


98.7 %

by Chevalier_007



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Angst, Arranged Marriage, F/F, Krypton, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:15:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27893689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chevalier_007/pseuds/Chevalier_007
Summary: It felt like eons to Kara when it was only a few minutes, but she held her breath as ‘MATCH FOUND’ flashed on the screen.She was so sure it was going to be Mon-El because they loved each other and he was a Prince while she was a Princess, it all lined up so imagine her surprise when Alex Danvers face flashed on the MatriComp screen with the compatibility of 98.7%.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers
Comments: 157
Kudos: 359





	1. Ascendance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Heiress of the House of El, Princess of Krypton, Kara Zor-El's Day of Ascendance and Coronation is finally upon her.
> 
> Will the future be what she expects it to be?

* * *

**Chapter 1: Ascendance**

The place was typical to what someone would expect a laboratory to look like, large counters with state-of-the-art equipment, clearly illuminated under bright white lights. The strong odour of cleaning detergents intermingled with the smell of smoke from electronic and soldering irons lingered in the air. A cluster of desks sat in the far corner for the scientists. It was a typical lab except for the reddish sky with two moons clearly through the windows 

Lena Luthor, sat at her desk, grinned, balling a piece of paper before throwing at the brunette dreaming at the desk across hers.

“Wha…” Alex Danvers sat up abruptly, startled out of her thoughts when something smacked her head. She grabbed her desk to avoid toppling backwards in her chair. 

“Are you still daydreaming about your princess? Yeah, we get it, you got an invitation to her Coronation,” teased Lena watching as a blush crept over her best friend’s face. 

Winn Schott Jr laughed from his desk. Alex huffed and glared at the man which shut him up right away. 

“Come on, we all know you are in looooove,” Lena sing-sang, ducking as Alex threw the paper ball back at her. 

“Shut up, both of you,” grumbled Alex, wondering why she was friends with them. 

“You’ve been in looooove since you saw her the first time you stepped out of the spaceship two years ago. Winn, remember her awestruck lovesick drooling face?” Lena asked, turning to the computer genius, wiggling her eyebrows. 

“I was not drooling!” argued Alex, glaring at the green-eyed brunette.

“Yeah, yeah, so you agree with the awestruck and lovesick description then,” the Luthor grinned. 

Alex glared harder at the woman, knowing that she’s been had. Hearing a snort from Winn’s desk, she turned and glared at him too, watching him cower in fear. Why was she friends with them again?

♜

Kara Zor-El smiled into her mirror in her bedroom. The room was spacious, set in the higher floors of the El Tower, with a large window spanning the whole of one wall overlooking the city of Argo. The red light from the Sun Rai illuminated the space as she stared at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in a beautiful flowing dark blue dress and strapped to her shoulders was her cape, of an even darker blue with a large crest of the House of El embroidered in silver in the middle. She couldn’t believe that the time had come. Her Day of Ascendance and Coronation. She was officially 25 rotation of Krypton around Rao, 25 years old and she would now officially be declared Heiress of the House of El, Princess of Krypton. After all, she was the only child of King Zor-El and Queen Alura El. She felt a shiver of excitement ripple through her at the thought.  _ Finally _ , she thought. 

“Little One? Are you ready?” she heard a voice calling behind her. Whirling around, she ran into the person’s arms, “Aunt Astra! You are here!” Her aunt was one of her favourite people, always coming to tell her stories of her military travels and bringing her little trinkets back. 

“Of course, did you think I would miss the Ascendance and Coronation of my favourite niece?” asked General Astra In-Ze grinning, having flown back to Krypton from her mission just for Kara. 

“I’m your only niece, Aunt Astra!” huffed Kara. It was a running joke between them and Kara appreciated that no matter what age she got to, her relationship with her aunt remained the same. 

“Now, let’s go. Your mother is nearly having a breakdown,” said Astra, pulling the girl with her towards the Preparation room connected to the Ceremony Hall where the coronation and subsequent party were going to be held. The Preparation room was a medium-sized room, mostly used as a waiting room until the ceremony starting time.

“Kara!” Alura Zor-El sighed in relief at seeing her daughter, “what took you so long to get ready?” She fluffed the blonde's hair and pulled at her collar to fix it in anxiety despite there being nothing to fix.

“I found her admiring herself in the mirror,” teased Astra, watching Kara’s face erupt in a blush. It filled her heart to the brim at the young woman her niece had become. It wasn't so long ago, she was still just a child interested in hearing stories about her travels across the galaxies on Military missions. 

Alura laughed, finally relaxing and hugged her only child, “let’s go through everything again before we get started.” It was a once in a lifetime event for her Kara and she would do anything to make sure it went without a hitch.

♜

The hall was vast, sat atop the El Tower, able to house a thousand people, with high glass walls and ceiling, providing a clear view of Krypton's sky. Glowing crystal chandeliers hung from the roof support beams, illuminating the crowd buzzing as they waited for the royals to make their entrance. There were quite a few recording teams set up, making sure that the populace of Krypton was able to see the proceedings live from their home broadcast screen. 

All the important people of Krypton were in attendance, from prestigious houses as well as distinguished members of the Guilds; Science, Judiciary, Arts, Agriculture and more. There were also a lot of royals and dignitaries from neighbouring planets. All their heads turned when the entrance of the royals was announced and large doors opened to show the procession of the King and Queen, followed by the Princess side by side with the Military General.

The ceremony went without a hitch much of Alura's relief, with Zor-El's speech captivating the audience but it was Princess Kara's pledge to the planet that sent the crowd in uproarious applause. 

Kara could see the tears shining in her mother and aunt’s eyes as her father Zor-El deposited her tiara on top of her head. Taking her vow of Ascendance as well as her pledge to the people of Krypton, Kara smiled at the cheer that erupted throughout the hall. 

“I am so proud of you,” sniffed Alura, kissing her daughter’s forehead. She had dreamt of this moment and now looking at the fine woman her daughter had become, it brought tears to her eyes. Her little girl was Crown Princess of Krypton. 

“As I am,” said Zor-El as he pulled her in a hug. He smiled at his daughter. Time had sure flown fast, as he reminisced on the multiple times she came to keep him company in his lab and the few hours he could put aside to tinker at some machines or read books with her. 

“Thank you, mom, dad” smiled Kara, hugging them back. Her chest was bursting with joy at the pride in her parents' eyes. She vowed to do everything to keep it that way.

“So proud of you, little one,” said Astra pulling her in a hug after she was released by her parents. Her little one had grown up so quickly. 

Zor-El turned to address the crowd “I declare the festivities now fully open. People of Krypton, I present the Crown Princess, Kara Zor-El,” his voice boomed through the space and the crowd cheered. 

♜

Kara was currently dancing with Tul-Or, a young man of the Agriculture Guild. The dance floor was full of people as a band filled the air with Kryptonian music. Kara had danced with quite a few people already and as much as Tul-Or was nice, he wasn’t the one she wanted to dance with. Looking around, she tried to spot the one she was waiting for. She let her mind wander, wondering if things would change now that she was the Crown Princess. If she would get a chance to explore the outside of Krypton more. She was grateful to some extent that Krypton had the tightest security which meant she didn’t have guards following her around at all times but even then, she had seen little of Krypton, always confined to the more luxurious and prestigious parts so she was quite curious of what laid beyond. It was also a lonely existence, being the only child and being a royal didn’t afford her many friends. 

“May I cut in?” asked a feminine husky voice. 

“Yes sure,” said Tul-Or respectfully as he stepped away and Kara found herself in the arms of a brunette, short reddish-brown hair quite distinct in their colour. 

“Congratulations on your Ascendance and Coronation, Princess,” 

“Thank you. And you are?” asked Kara, intrigued by the eyes in front of her. She had never seen such a mixture of colours before, gold, green and browns swirling, changing shades whenever the light would hit it from a different angle. 

“Alex Danvers,” the brunette replied as she expertly led the princess in their dance. 

“Oh, you are one of the Humans in the Science Guild, I couldn’t place your accent,” Kara had seen them from afar but never interacted with one before. From what it looked like; they weren’t much different from Kryptonians but Kara was intrigued. 

“Yes. There aren’t many of us around here. I’ve only been here for two years so my Kryptonese is not the best,” smiled Alex, seeing the curiosity in the blue eyes in front of her. Most Kryptonians were still prejudiced against humans so it was nice to have the princess not show any of that inclination. Alex thought she looked beautiful, looking all curious like that. Like a cute puppy. 

“I apologise for not knowing more,” said Kara, embarrassed. She was the Princess of Krypton after all and felt put out for not knowing more.

“Well, you are welcome to visit the Science Headquarters whenever you want, Princess and it would be a pleasure to introduce the others to you,” said Alex, trying to hide her blush at being so forward. 

Kara opened her mouth to respond when a voice interrupted.

“May I cut in?” a male voice asked. 

“Oh, yeah sure. Congratulations again, Princess,” said Alex, disappointed at her dance with the Princess being cut short but alas, propriety didn't allow her to complain so she let go of Kara and stepped back. 

Kara looked at the man and grinned, seeing the person she was waiting for. “Mon-El” she whispered.

“Hello Princess, quite a party going on,” he grinned, looking around her as he grabbed her hand and waist, 

“You are late! You missed my Ascendence and Coronation,” scolded Kara, annoyed at how unbothered he looked about it. Was it too much to ask for someone to come on time for one of the most important days of her life?

“Yeah, sorry. I had stuff to take care of. I’m the Prince of Daxam, after all.” he said as he led her to the music.

“Couldn’t you have your brother look after it? He is the Crown Prince, after all,” argued Kara. She was a bit miffed that her secret boyfriend couldn’t be bothered to come on time to her Coronation as Crown Princess. 

Face scrunching at the mention of his brother being Crown Prince, Mon-El growled, “I don’t want to hear about this, Kara.” his voice leaving no room for argument. He hated when people talked about his brother. He hated that he had the luck of being born first thus making him the Crown Prince. He was a more fitting candidate. 

“Ok,” replied Kara disappointed, deciding to change the subject “My family and I will be going to check the MatriComp in a few days. I sure hope your name is what comes through.”

“Of course, it will! I am the Prince of Daxam, a Military Leader, there is no one more fit for the Princess of Krypton,” he boasted, puffing his chest. He was sure his name was going to come up. That scientist had made sure to up his percentage in the mainframe. 

Smiling at his eagerness to be with her, Kara smiled, “It’ll be good to be officially betrothed instead of meeting in secret. Now that I am officially Crown Princess, scandals would have a different meaning altogether.” 

“I don’t understand Kryptonians really. On Daxam, you just fucked the one you want to take. So much simpler,” said Mon-El, shrugging. Kryptonians were such prudes, no sex before marriage thing and marriage being forever nonsense. On Daxam, you just took who you wanted and how many you wanted. He stifled a grin remembering the reason he was late. 

“Mon-El!” whispered Kara angrily, “I will not have you disrespect our traditions. I am the Princess of this planet. How dare you?! I already know the uproar that the MatriComp will bring with your name. My parents will have a fit having me matched to a Daxamite, you don’t have to make it worse by behaving like a savage!” Kara knew her parents wouldn’t be happy to have her be matched with a Daxamite. Daxam and Krypton were sister planets but yet so polar opposite. Truthfully, she found Daxam to be barbaric and was quite grateful she had been born on Krypton. There would have been no way she would have been Crown Princess of Daxam as they do not allow women to take the throne over there. On top of that, their barbaric way of getting betrothed made Kara want to throw up. She was thankful that Mon-El told her he hadn’t touched anyone, only wanting to be with her. 

“And now, who is disrespecting me by calling Daxamite savages, right in the face of the Prince of Daxam?” asked Mon-El.

Kara gritted her teeth but stayed quiet. She really didn’t want to fight. She wanted to enjoy her day with her boyfriend in hopes that now, they could be together after a visit to the MatriComp. All Kryptonians went to check their match after their Ascendance. She had always dreamt of it. She never expected to fall for her prince before then, but they had met once at a market and the rest was history. He was so handsome and strong. He had been dashing in his military dress and Kara had been charmed. 

Thankfully, the rest of the night went better as she held her tongue. Kara spent most of the night in Mon-El’s arms, and she was happy about it but still danced with others to not arouse suspicion over her relationship with the Daxamite. The time would come for Mon-El to be properly introduced to her family. Just a week more. 

♜

“Good morning, little one,” said Astra, as she strode inside the little studio that her niece used for her hobby. Painting. 

Turning around, Kara smiled at the presence of her aunt. Depositing her paintbrush and stepping away from her canvas, she hurried to hug her, “Aunt Astra! How long are you here for?” She always loved having her aunt around and did everything to maximise their time together when she was back on Krypton. 

“Not sure yet but I don’t believe for too long which is why I’m here. I was wondering if you would like to accompany me for my rounds today. I have a few things to pick up from the Science Guild Headquarters,” her aunt asked. 

“Of course!” replied Kara without hesitation, always taking every opportunity to go out and explore Krypton. It was always fun with her aunt as she gets to see different places that she would rarely visit with her parents. 

Smiling at her niece, Astra pulled her along, “Come on then.” they made their way to the docking platform of the tower where their vessels were currently parked. 

It took just a few minutes by shuttle for them to reach Argo City and soon they were walking through the hallway of the Science Headquarters.

“General In-Ze,” greeted a guard “this way,” he said as he pointed towards the door beside him. 

As they walked in, Kara was intrigued at all the technology that was displayed in front of her. She had never seen them before so she assumed they were new prototypes and if her aunt Astra was here, then they were surely for the military. 

“General Astra, a pleasure to see you again,” Kara recognised the husky voice and looked up from the gadget she was observing to see Alex, walking towards them in her white scientist robes with her name tag  _ Danvers _ embroidered. The brunette approached both and bowed. Kara was quite surprised to hear the brunette call her ‘General Astra’ instead of ‘General In-Ze’. Not a lot of people were allowed such familiarity with the General. 

“Inventor Alex, the pleasure is all mine. I believe I was told that the weapon I requested was in the testing phase and needed my input?” asked Astra. Kara noticed that the familiarity went both ways, with her aunt calling the scientist ‘Alex’ instead of ‘Danvers’. 

“Yes,” replied Alex, “It’s in the testing chamber and we would like you to use it so we can get the readings to calibrate it for you. This way, please.” the brunette pointed towards a door. “We’ll observe behind the glass.”

“Wait for me here, Kara,” said Astra as she walked through the door, which automatically slid shut behind her. Kara, walked towards the glass, watching as another inventor handed Astra a gun. 

“This is Lena Luthor, one of my colleagues and my best friend” introduced Alex, pointing at a green-eyed brunette that Kara hadn’t noticed, clad in a similar white robe that scientists wore. 

“Pleasure meeting you, Princess,” replied the woman, bowing. 

“Nice meeting you as well,” replied Kara.

“I can take it from here, Alex,” Lena whispered to Alex, winking as she nudged her towards the princess, not caring about the glare that her best friend shot her in response. She walked away to her computer to keep an eye on the readings. 

It took a few minutes of watching her aunt do repetitive tests for Kara to get bored and she moved away from the glass, hoping to explore some more. Her attention was suddenly captured by a multicoloured box on someone’s desk. Picking it up, she observed that it had tiles of multiple colours and they could be moved around.

“It’s called a Rubik’s Cube.”

Hearing Alex’s voice next to her, Kara turned to the brunette, face scrunched in confusion as she didn’t recognise the words.

“It’s a puzzle game from Earth. You are meant to rotate it around until each face is lined up with only one colour,” explained Alex.

“Oh,” Kara rotated it a few times and realised it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

The main door opened, and a man shuffled in, looking dead on his feet. He walked to Alex and deposited a bag in her hand, “Eliza sent ya stuff,” he mumbled before walking away.

“Thanks, Winn!” called Alex at the departing man. He probably stayed up playing games all night again.

The sweet smell emanating from the parcel was something Kara had never smelled before. Sniffing harder, she blushed when she realised Alex was watching her amused, “I’m sorry” she apologised. 

“It’s all good,” said Alex, pulling the item from the bag. Kara observed it look like a thick large disk, “this is what we call Chocolate Pecan Pie and it’s a dessert on Earth. We have recently managed to fix the delivery vessels and since then we have managed to import more produce from Earth. My mother baked this. She works in the Eastern Argo labs with my father,” Alex explained as she placed the pie on her desk and started to cut a piece.

“Cho-co-late? Cho-co-late…” Kara tried to wrap her tongue around the foreign word. 

Alex grinned. The blonde was adorable. Depositing a piece of pie on a plate, she offered it to her, along with a fork. 

“Oh, there is no need. Your mother must have sent it for you and you just said the ingredients were hard to come by,” replied Kara, politely declining despite really wanting to taste it. The sweet smell was quite enticing and she was known to have a sweet tooth. 

“I insist,” smiled Alex, pushing the plate in her hand.

“Ok, thank you” replied Kara. She delicately broke a piece with her utensil and brought it to her mouth, hoping it tasted good because she really didn’t want to spit it out in front of the brunette. As soon as the food hit her tongue, she couldn’t help but moan. Alex flushed at the noise, but Kara didn’t notice as her eyes were closed, humming at the flavours bursting on her tongue, “this is so good!” she said giddily, shoving a bigger piece in her mouth.

Alex looked on smiling, the princess looked like an excited puppy and Alex wasn’t sure if she was feeling amused or aroused at the little hip giggle and moan combination she was doing at every mouthful. 

A few seconds later, Kara was looking at her empty plate mournfully, lip jutting out in a pout and Alex’s heart did a lurch. Cutting a bigger piece out of the pie, she silently deposited it on the blonde plate, heart skipping a beat when the blonde sent her a blinding smile before digging into her treat.  _ Wow! I’m a goner. _

♜

“So, how was your time with the princess?” asked Lena coyly as she rounded Alex’s desk, snapping the woman out of the dazed stupor she had been in since the royals left. 

Trying to school her face, Alex replied nonchalantly, “Fine.”

“You got it bad!” laughed Lena, totally reading her best friend’s face. 

Alex huffed, shoulders dropping in defeat, “Yeah...can you blame me? She is adorable! You didn’t see her when she was stuffing her face with pie, her eyes were literally shining! She seems to have a major sweet tooth.”

“Well, there you go! A way for you to get closer to her!” said Lena as she wiggled her eyebrows at Alex.

“It’s now how it works. They have the MatriComp here, you know it,” said Alex sadly. 

Taking pity on her sad best friend, Lena gave the brunette a hug, “Yeah sorry.”

“I really really like her, I have since I first saw her when we got here,” said Alex defeatedly. 

Lena watched as Alex’s eyes got sad and could only hug the brunette tighter. It was so heartbreaking for her best friend to fall for the most unattainable woman on the planet. 

♜

Astra smiled as her niece gesticulated wildly, narrating her story to her as they walked through the El Tower hallways. 

“And then she gave me this dessert, it was so good! I didn’t know Earth food was this good! I need to find out more. She also gave me this puzzle game she called Rubix, she told me I can try solving it. I tried speaking it to it for hints, but it won’t tell me anything... Do you know where I can get the Earth pie again? Would they have it in the Argo Market? I’m starting to get hungry just thinking of it…”

The General could only shake her hand at the excitable blonde. Nothing got her going like food so that was a great move by Inventor Alex if she didn’t mistake the look in the brunette’s eyes as she looked at her niece. Alas, there wasn’t much in their hands about that as it was all up to the MatriComp but if you were to ask Astra, Alex was quite a worthy candidate for her niece... 

♜♜♜

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts about the story, I'd really appreciate it! :) Thanks


	2. MatriComp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day to find Kara's match is finally here...

**Chapter 2: MatriComp**

Kara was quite nervous and excited as she walked through the marble hallways of the Hall of Councils with her parents and aunt. They were going to check her match on the MatriComp. Getting a match didn’t necessarily mean marriage. Most people waited until a match was found with at least 70% compatibility. Her parents were married at 77%. Not having a match greater than 70% just meant that a better match wasn’t registered on the MatriComp, which is fair as the database wasn’t that extensive. New people got registered every day as they visited Krypton or neighbouring planets. The highest recorded compatibility was 81.2%.

“Here we are, Queen Judicator,” said a guard who had escorted the ruling family inside the room where the Supercomputer was installed. 

“Thank you,” replied Alura, watching the guard leave them. “Are you ready?” she asked, reaching for Kara. 

Not trusting her voice, Kara nodded and slipped her hand into her mother’s, feeling a bit better as the hand squeezed hers in reassurance. She walked into the scanner attached to the computer and rested her right hand on the orb on the side. She watched as her mother launched the scan and transparent glass doors closed around her. Lights flashed around her, taking a biometric scan of her face and body and Kara felt a pinprick in her palm as a more recent blood sample was taken from her. It only took a few seconds before the doors opened again and she walked out, joining her family members who were intensely staring at the MatriComp screen crunching through billions of profiles. 

It felt like eons to Kara when it was only a few minutes, but she held her breath as ‘MATCH FOUND’ flashed on the screen. She was so sure it was going to be Mon-El because they loved each other and he was a Prince while she was a Princess, it all lined up so imagine her surprise when Alex Danvers face flashed on the screen with the compatibility of 98.7%.

♜

When Alex was summoned to the Hall of Councils by the Royal Family ASAP, she wasn’t sure what it was all about, but she didn’t dilly-dally as it definitely seemed like it was super important. It only took her a few minutes to get there by using the express pod but she definitely didn’t expect the Queen Alura to pull her into a hug. 

“Inventor Alex!” smiled Alura, “It is of utmost pleasure to have you so close by! I was worried my Kara would be matched up with someone in the neighbouring planets!”

“I’m sorry, wha-” Alex was confused. 

Astra walked up to the brunette and pointed at the MatriComp screen, “I believe a welcome to the family is due, Alex Danvers”

Alex did the best impression of a fish as she saw her face on the Supercomputer. _Alex Danvers matched with Kara Zor-El...98.7% Oh god, my lucky stars!_ She gave a quick glance at the dazed princess at the back.

“When would you be ready for the engagement, Alex?” smiled King Zor-El.

“It… It’s an absolute honour,” she replied, tearing her eyes away from the beautiful blonde. Taking deep breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart, “I will need some time to get an engagement bracelet…”

“Fair. What about two weeks?” said Alura, itching to start planning her daughter’s engagement. Seeing Alex nod robotically, she clapped her hands, “Two weeks and we will have an engagement ceremony! Oh, I’m so excited!” Hugging her future daughter-in-law again, “we’ll come to meet your family at your house at 8 pm tonight to formally announce your betrothal with Kara. Then we shall all be escorted to the El Tower for dinner.”

Alex could only nod. Things were chaotic as Alura kept planning, she didn’t get a chance to speak to the princess. She wasn’t sure how she got back home after everything. Pulling her phone out, she quickly punched out a few messages before allowing herself to sink on the couch, in shock. _98.7%_ , she thought., _98.7%._

♜

Lena was discussing a few code changes to their new prototype with Winn when both her comm and Winn’s pinged.

**Alex -** Code Red, meet at the house

Looking up at Winn’s shocked face, she realised that he must have gotten the same message. Scrambling to grab her coat, she shot out of the lab, Winn hot on her heels. It’s the first time Alex had evoked the Code Red. They had a system established in their little group and Code Red meant things were serious. 

♜

It only took them a few minutes to reach Alex’s house and they burst through to find the brunette sitting on the couch in the living room comatose, staring blankly in front of her. 

“Alex?” Lena asked hesitantly and was quite alarmed to not receive any sort of response. In her worry, she didn’t notice Alex’s parents, Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers walk through the doors. 

“Alex? What is the issue? We received your message and left the lab as soon as we could,” asked Eliza as she saw her daughter.

Lena’s worry shot through the roof at those words. Alex had called her parents as well?

“Oh my god!” cried Winn in horror, “The royal family called you in today! Did you do something? Are you getting deported?” 

The gasp from her parents snapped Alex from her stupor and she hastily replied, “What? No no. I’m not getting deported!”

A collective sigh of relief echoed through the house.

“What is it then?” asked Jeremiah, taking a seat next to his daughter, “You called everyone here. It must be something important.”

“I… I was called, like Winn said, by the royal family, to the Hall of Councils. I thought it was for a new tech they wanted to be implemented or some improvements to the building or something...but actually, they were there for the Princess’ MatriComp Match....”

It took a few seconds and Lena’s eyes widened and she gasped. Was it really what she thought it was?!

“And… And I am the match,” Alex whispered, cheeks turning rosy, voice laced with awe. 

“Oh my god!” whispered Eliza. The princess! Her girl had been matched with the princess! But wait, Alex had seemed pretty shocked earlier, “wait, is that something you don’t want? Do you want us to go speak to the King and Queen to refuse-”

“NO!” cried Alex in horror.

Lena burst out laughing. The odds! This was a miracle! “No way! Eliza, your daughter has had the hots for the princess since she came here! She is definitely wanting this,” she chortled out. 

Alex flushed at the words and Eliza was amazed. She had never seen her daughter in this shade before. 

“Shut up, you!” hissed Alex, embarrassed. 

“So, you do want this?” asked Eliza, a small smile erupting on her face. She had to ask though, just to be sure. 

“Yes,” whispered Alex, nodding shyly, heart thudding in her chest. She was still trying to wrap her mind around it. 

“Oh love, I’m so happy for you!” said Eliza, wrapping her arm around her only daughter and squeezing tightly. Jeremiah wrapped them both in his arms. 

“Group hug!” squealed Winn, grabbing Lena and pulling her into joining the hug. The group laughed. They had become a family since they came to Krypton. 

“You’re suffocating me, guys!” whined Alex, though she was enjoying the hug tremendously. 

“Ok, ok.” said Eliza as she pulled away, smiling, “so what’s next?”

“They are coming here tonight to formally announce the engagement then taking us to dinner at the El Tower,” said Alex, having a hard time keeping a smile off her face. 

“Gods!” Eliza jumped off her couch, “the royal family is coming here?! We need to clean this place! Lena, grab the vacuum! Winn, the mop! Jeremiah, go find your best suit! Alex, we need to find you something to wear! Chop chop!”

Lena and Winn groaned. The place was clean already, they had robots to do the cleaning. A quick glare from Eliza shut them up though and they hurried to find the cleaning supplies. Never mess with Mama Danvers. 

♜

Kara was currently sitting on her bed, in shock since the MatriComp had shown her match. It wasn’t Mon-El. Her hands tightened into fists. _How could it not be Mon-El?! There must have been a mistake!_ But she knew, there hadn’t been one despite how much she wanted it to be. 98.7% was unheard of and she had to listen to her parents and aunt gush at the number the whole way back to their tower. 

She couldn’t marry someone other than Mon-El! _Mon-El!_ She realised, quickly jumping to her feet. Grabbing her comms from her bedside table, she quickly shot her boyfriend a message asking him to meet her at their spot. Stealthily, she slipped out knowing she didn’t have much time, especially since she had to be ready to go meet the Danvers by 8 pm. 

It only took her fifteen minutes to reach their spot and Kara threw herself at the Daxamite prince once she saw him waiting.

“Kara!” grinned Mon-El, hugging the princess tight, “So it’s done? When should I be expecting your parents?”

Kara pulled herself out of his arms, “No, no, no, it all went wrong!”

Furrowing his brows, Mon-El asked, “what?”

“You weren’t a match!” cried Kara, unable to keep the anger from her voice. 

“What?!” growled Mon-El, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards him, “What do you mean I wasn’t a match!? Who was it?!”

“Alex Danvers! The scientist! We were matched at 98.7%!” At finally saying the name of the woman she had been matched with, Kara couldn’t stop her tears and started sobbing. 

Mon-El was furious! It wasn’t supposed to be this way! _This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was all supposed to go according to plan! The scientist he had on the inside had told him that he was the best match just months ago!_

“What are we going to do?” sobbed Kara, grabbing onto his shirt and burying her face in his chest. 

“It’s ok, Kara. I’ll think of something,” replied Mon-El, trying to reassure her. “We are going to get married, you and me. For now, just go with whatever is happening, I will find a way,” he said, eyes shining with determination.

Hearing the confidence in his voice, Kara pulled away wiping her tears. She looked at him, all determined and felt herself believe his words, “Ok, ok…”

“We have time, you are going to get engaged but the wedding is not for now, right?” asked Mon-El. Seeing Kara nod, he continued, “I’ll come up with something by then. Try to buy us as much time as possible.”.

“Ok,” said Kara, smiling for the first time since she heard the news, “but what about Alex?”

“I’ll figure it out. You and me, we are going to be together,” he growled, pulling her into a bruising kiss. 

Kara winced at the harshness but tried to reciprocate. Pulling away, she replied, “I have to go. I am meant to get ready to go meet the Danvers.”

Nodding stiffly, Mon-El released her, “Go. Keep me informed on how things go and don’t mention any of this to anyone.”

Giving him a quick hug, Kara turned and walked away. She needed to get back to El Tower to get ready. 

♜

Alex pulled at her black suit jacket for the 100th time. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to her mom for her to wear a suit as well. Her mother had wanted her in a dress, tch, she wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress. 

“You ready?” she heard Lena’s voice behind her. 

“I’m not sure,” replied Alex, turning to look at her best friend. 

“Here, I had to go through Winn’s collection to find something for you,” said Lena, wrapping a dark blue tie around Alex’s neck and setting up to tie it in a nice knot.

“I’m so nervous,” whispered Alex, surprising both herself and Lena at the admittance. Alex was not one to admit such ‘weaknesses’.

“Hey, it’s going to be ok, we are all here to support you,” smiled Lena. She herself was dressed in a beautiful shimmering green dress, matching her eyes. 

“Thank you,” replied Alex sincerely, it was good that her family would be there, she doesn’t want to imagine what it would have been like if she had been the only one invited to this dinner. “You know I’m going to need your help to design an engagement bracelet, right?”

“Pshhh, obviously!” replied Lena, “don’t worry, we’ll blow all the Kryptonians out of the water with it. Your princess will want to marry you right away once she sees it!”

“Do you think I should get her a ring too?” asked Alex, confused. It was an Earth custom.

“I think that is a great idea!” replied Lena, finishing the tie knot, and settling the tie against Alex’s crisp baby blue shirt, “I mean, she is Kryptonian and matched with a human. It must be different? But like good different, you get to show her all the Earthly things! Look at it, we are all dressed in Earth formal clothing compared to Kryptonian ones”

“I think you are right,” replied Alex. She did understand the concept of engagement bracelets followed by bonding bracelets but as a human, she did have some sentimentalities to her own customs. A ring on her fiancé’s finger would tie everything up nicely. A knock interrupted their conversation.

“You guys decent in there?” asked Winn behind the door.

“Come in,” replied Alex. 

Opening the door, Winn walked through, shuffling excitedly around, dressed sharply in his own grey suit, “here, I found the pocket square.” he said, giving the item to Lena to sort out for Alex, “I also checked quickly and got you the most magnificent rose out of the garden, just like you asked. Knowing that it won’t survive outside of the forcefield, I’ve dropped by the lab and crystallised the outside,” he said, handing out a glass-like yellow rose to Alex, “you can still smell it. I’m still not sure why you went for yellow instead of red though, yellow means friendship” he added. 

Alex grinned at the flower, grateful for the help of her friend. He had always been a little brother to her. “Thank you, Winn.”

The Danvers, Lena and Winn and countless others had signed up for a program for the chance to go to Krypton. It had been quite a miracle for Alex to not only be chosen but to have both of her parents chosen as well. Lena and Winn were chosen out of the pool of candidates as well, that was how the five of them landed on Krypton two years ago. 

The living space they had been allocated was quite large. A large two-storey house for all five of them. Eliza and Jeremiah had quickly taken the non-Danvers into their family and now, Alex had Lena as her best friend/sister while Winn was another best friend/brother. What was also fascinating was the forcefield that covered the house as well as part of the land surrounding it. The Kryptonians had explained to them that every house had such a forcefield to mark the perimeter of the land owned but what was also amazing about it was the tech implemented in it.

The forcefield could replicate the atmosphere of any habitable planet to some extent. This allowed any immigrant to have a piece of their home with them. Currently, their place was set to replicate the sun of Earth during the day and the temperature and humidity of summer. This allowed them to plant seeds from Earth within their perimeter and that is how they got a grass lawn and a garden full of Earth flowers and vegetables. It wasn’t 100% like Earth, the sky was still red under the Red Sun of Krypton, it never rained, it never snowed, there were no clouds. All that had taken some getting used to. 

“Alex! They are here!” Eliza’s voice rang out from downstairs. 

Alex carefully pocketed the rose in her blazer’s inside pockets, knowing it wasn’t going to get crushed. The material wasn’t actually glass, it was a lot stronger than that. The trio quickly shuffled down the stairs. Lena quickly went to the windows to peek, seeing the royal family descending from a large vessel. 

A few seconds later, a knock sounded through the room and Alex nervously wiped her sweaty hands on her dress pants. Jeremiah quickly attended to the door and opened it, bowing respectfully to the royals, “Your majesties, please come in.” 

Zor-El quickly grabbed his shoulders to pull him up, “No bowing please, we are now family-to-be!” he said patting the man on his shoulder. Alura, on her end, quickly noticed Alex’s mother and pulled her into a hug. 

After Alura had hugged everyone and Zor-El had patted everyone on the shoulder, the two monarchs stood together and Zor-El smiled before announcing “we are here to officially formalise the betrothal of our daughter, Crown Princess Kara Zor-El to Alexandra Danvers.” 

It seemed the announcement was a cue as Kara walked in, dressed in light blue robes and Alex’s breath caught. The blonde hair had been braided on both sides, before being tied together at the back. Only a few tendrils had escaped, framing the princess’s fair face but what struck Alex the most was how the light blue of Kara’s dress brought out the rich blue of her eyes even more. They shined like the bluest of sapphires. 

“We, Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers humbly accept the betrothal of our daughter Alexandra Danvers to the Crown Princess” replied Jeremiah, having quickly looked up what the proper response was before the arrival of the royals. 

Zor-El laughed and hugged the man, “Thank you! Let us go, the ship is waiting to take us to the tower for dinner.”

Alex, Lena and Winn watched in awe as their parents quickly became friends with the King and Queen, chatting animatedly as they walked out the house leaving the trio with Kara. 

Lena walked to the princess, dragging Winn with her, “it’s a pleasure to see you again, Princess.” Winn barely had time to do a quick bow before he was dragged away by the Luthor. 

Alex slowly walked to the princess, knowing she was to escort her. Offering her hand nervously, she smiled when the princess took it and she gently led the woman out of the house. No words were spoken for the short walk to the ship and Alex was too nervous to talk anyway. All the courage she was known to have, was gone. She quietly took a seat beside Lena while Kara sat next to her mother, across from her.

She didn’t even realise that they had reached the El Tower until Lena elbowed her, snapping her out of her daydream. Again, gently escorting Kara out and into the tower, Alex followed the King and his wife to their dining hall, housing a massive marble table. A butler showed them all to their seats and Alex was quite surprised to find herself seated across the princess. She was pleased to find Astra seated beside the blonde. She felt a bit more at ease with Astra there. At least, she knew the General. 

Dinner was served and everyone started digging in the Kryptonian dishes. Kara was relieved to have food in front of her. She loved eating and having food in her mouth meant that she wouldn’t have to talk. 

“So, Alex,” started Zor-El, “I’ve heard so much about you. Your name is quite well-known even in the High Labs. What project are you working on?

Alex felt pride at his words. Zor-El was well known for his position in the Science Guild and he worked at the High Labs, one of the most prestigious labs, dealing with all sorts of high-risk, high-security projects. To have her names circulating those circles meant quite a lot, “We are currently working on creating a handheld particle accelerator to focalise beams, hoping to add it to the military arsenal.” Alex replied, pointing at Winn and Lena to show that they were all on the same project. 

“Fascinating, and you are processing it through a circular path constantly?” he asked, spearing a piece of meat on his fork.

“None exactly, Lena has worked out a spiral cycle,” she replied, sort of relieved that the conversation was on a topic she could talk about in her sleep.

Alura mock-frowned at her husband, him and his sciency stuff, “more weapons for the military? What are the legalities on this weapon? Everyone deserved a fair trial instead of being vaporised in this air,” she said, ignoring the eye-roll from her twin sister. 

“Oh no, it’s not lethal,” replied Alex, looking stricken at having offended the Judicator, and she hastened to explain, “It creates a high impulse when it hits a body which overloads the muscles neurological impulses, shocking the person long enough for them to be apprehended safely.” 

“Meh, kind of a soft approach I must say,” said Astra, “It gets boring after the first time,” she said with a deadpan face.

Alura shook her head at her sister, despite the small smile blooming on her face.

♜

Dinner went quite well, with the monarchs pulling everyone into the conversation, though Alex was feeling a lot more nervous now, having observed the princess throughout the meal. The woman had kept quiet, inhaling quite an impressive amount of food from Alex’s standards, which made her smile. It seemed that the princess’s love of food extended beyond just a sweet tooth... though she did demolish the dessert with more enthusiasm than anything else. She filed the information for later.

They were currently sipping on a hot beverage when Alura turned to Kara, “Kara, why don’t you show Alex the gardens while we get acquainted with her family?

Knowing it was more of an order than a question, Kara nodded and got up, waiting for Alex to do the same and join her. Alex quickly caught up and they exited the tower, walking quietly to the gardens. A gentle breeze was blowing and the sky was clear, the stars and the two moons of Krypton shining brightly.

“It’s beautiful,” said Alex, breaking the silence when they reached the garden, eyeing the purple oval leaves covering the ground, so different to the thin green grass of Earth. Dozens of flowers surrounded the place, most she was familiar with, having studied them but it still amazed her every time she saw them.

Kara sighed, unsure of what she should do but knew she couldn’t be rude. After all, it wasn’t Alex’s fault that the MatriComp had chosen her. She decided to try a conversation, “very different to what I saw at your abode,” she replied. 

“Yes, after all, what we have at home are Earth flowers,” said Alex, smiling at having the blonde finally speak.

“The colours and shapes were quite peculiar,” Kara added. It was things that she noticed, after all, she was an artist. 

“That was the exact same thing I thought when I first came here,” laughed Alex, feeling a little less nervous. Remembering the item in her pocket, she pulled it out, offering it to the princess, “I have this for you.”

Kara eyed the yellow flower and picked it by the stem, admiring the vivid colour. She noticed a sheen on it.

“It has been crystallised otherwise it wouldn’t last long in Krypton’s atmosphere,” said Alex, reading the blonde’s face. 

“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen such a flower before, what is it called?” asked Kara curious. She ran her finger on the petals and could still feel the softness. Seemed like it wasn’t covered in a hard crystal but more of a pliant one, keeping the fragile feel of the flower. 

“It’s a rose. They come in different colours, meaning different things,” replied Alex. 

Kara nodded. Different flowers and colours meant different things on Krypton as well, “What does it mean?” she asked.

“It means friendship,” replied Alex. At the princess’ puzzled face, she shuffled on her feet nervously, scratching the back of her head, “I know we are betrothed now and we are going to get married and all but we don’t really know each other well? I selected yellow because I would like to start with friendship and get to know you better,” she explained shyly. 

Kara was touched at the brunette’s gesture and couldn’t help herself from smiling, she didn’t have many friends, “Thank you, Inventor Danvers” she replied sincerely, bringing the rose to her chest and was pleasantly surprised at the sweet smell that floated to her nose. 

Alex was stunned at the bright smile from the princess and smiled dopily in return. _God, she is beautiful._ “Please call me Alex, princess.”

“And you can call me, Kara.” Kara smiled as she took a deeper sniff at her flower. Kara watched as Alex smiled and reached for the inside of her blazer again. The brunette pulled out a small, wrapped ball? And presented it to her. She looked at it curiously.

Alex grinned at the curious puppy look on Kara’s face, “it’s a bonbon” supplied Alex, watching the blonde pick it up.

“Bon-bon?” Kara repeated, giggling. Earth words were funny.

Alex fished another bonbon of her pocket for herself and showed Kara how to unwrap it, watching as the blonde mimicked her actions with care. She picked the sweet and popped it in her mouth, watching as blue eyes lit up when they realised it was food. 

Kara popped her own sweet in her mouth, recognising with glee the familiar taste to the pie she had with Alex before. Cho-co-late. Hesitantly, she chewed and moaned when a thick sweet and salty taste coated her tongue.

“It’s caramel,” grinned Alex, patting herself on the back for picking on the blonde’s sweet tooth at the lab. 

“Alex?” Eliza’s voice interrupted the moment and Alex turned to see her and Kara’s parents approaching, “there you are. Sorry to cut your time short, we are leaving.”

A bit disappointed that their time had come to an end, Alex nodded. They all walked back to the front of the El Tower, where the ship was waiting to drop them home. Everyone said their goodbyes and shuffled inside the vessel. 

Alex waited until everyone was inside before turning back to the blonde, “I’ll see you soon, Kara” she said smiling.

“See you soon, Alex,” replied Kara in kind. She watched as Alex’s face flushed slightly before the brunette shoved something in her hand and ran off, disappearing into the vessel as the doors closed. 

She waited until the flying ship disappeared from her view before looking down at her hand and squeaked in joy when she saw a bag of more bonbons. She never knew having a friend was this good!

♜

Mon-El barged into his spaceship, furious beyond words.

"My Prince, you are back," said a scantily dressed slave, quickly picking up a platter with a mug of wine and approaching him.

Mon-El slapped the platter out of her hands, sending the wine flying out, "Get out of my sight!" he roared, marching to take a seat at the throne. He could feel all his Guardsmen's unease and revelled in it. "BRING ME DATAR-UL!" he barked, watching as a group of his men scurried away to find the man he asked for. 

It only took his men half an hour to bring the man in but by that time, Mon-El's patience was running thin. He watched as the reedy scientist was thrown in front of him.

"My Prince, what is the m… meaning of th… this?" Datar-Ul stammered, dread filling his chest as he looked at the thunderous look on the Prince's face.

"Tell me Datar, how is it that we went through all this trouble of hacking into the MatriComp to make sure that my name pops up as the Princess's bondmate, how I've been courting her for two years and a half now, not even with the benefit of sleeping with her, only for the day to come for me to be chosen and I'M NOT?!" Mon-El roared into the man’s face.

Datar gasped, his face paling, "That… that is not possible! My Prince, we hacked in three years ago and every possible match was around 75%. We made sure yours was at 87% which is unheard of!"

Mon-El gritted his teeth, "Kara Zor-El was matched to the human Alexandra Danvers at 98.7%!" He had waited, planned and worked for so long only for everything to be falling into shambles because of stupid fucking numbers.

Datar gasped at the high percentage, "My...my Prince…" he stammered, "we have never heard of such high numbers… The humans arrived two years ago but I believe they were only just authorised to be registered in the MatriComp system, we didn't account for them-"

"You should have!" shouted Mon-El, jumping to his feet, pulling one of his guards' sword out of his scabbard and driving it into Datar-Ul chest. He watched as the man gaped at him in disbelief, blood pooling underneath him before the light in his eyes flickered out. He threw the sword back to the guard, "Clean this up!" he spat, watching in satisfaction as the men scrambled to do his bidding, dragging the dead body of Datar-Ul away. Turning to where the scantily slave was standing in the corner of the room, he barked, “You! In my room! I need my stress alleviated,” before swivelling and walking away to his chambers. His shoulders and jaw were still stiff, he had some remaining aggression to take out.

  
  


♜♜♜

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts about the story, I'd really appreciate it! :) Thanks


	3. New Friendships

“So, you’ve decided on your design? We have Kandonian Steel ready to go,” said Lena as she sat on Alex’s desk, watching the brunette type away at her computer.

“Uh, I’m still thinking about it,” replied Alex, taking her attention away from the screen. Winn looked up from his own desk and rolled his chair closer. 

“Well, you only have two weeks so you better get your ass in gear. It’ll still take some time to manufacture. Good thing we don’t have to worry about the sizing as the tech will resize itself,” replied Lena, “what about the ring?”

“I’m thinking of giving her the ring, a bit later than that, when it’s just us since the bracelet will be exchanged at the engagement ceremony,” mused Alex.

“Look at your inner romantic coming out,” chuckled Lena, avoiding the shove from Alex, “so what stone?”

“You remember the trip we had to Haron, for that excavation?” asked Alex. Seeing Lena nod, she continued, typing her keycode for her desk drawing and rummaging through, “well I found this there.” Pulling a box out, she flipped it open. “It’s a red diamond.” Winn gasped. 

“Oh wow! That’s a big one. It’d get you a fortune on Earth!” said Lena, picking the box and eyeing the rough stone. 

“Yeah, it looks to have quite a high clarity as well,” said Winn peeking into the box. 

“Yeah but it’s not much here. I’m more thinking it would be great in terms of meaning? What do you think?”

“I think it’s perfect. I can cut it so that it’ll outshine Rao,” grinned Lena.

Alex grinned back, nodding at her friend, “what’s why I brought it here. Give me your best round cut.”

“On it!” squealed Lena, hugging Alex before shuffling away to her lab. 

Alex turned to Winn, “so I’m thinking of adding a bit of a twist to my bracelet…”

Winn looked at her curiously, “what do you have in mind?”

“How feasible it is, you think, to program….”

♜

A knock pulled Kara’s attention from the window she was gazing out of, “Come in,” she was surprised to see Alex walk through the doorway, it had only been two days since the dinner. The brunette was wearing all black, a black shirt, black slacks and black boots. On top of it, all was a black leather jacket that fitted the ensemble quite well.

“Hello Kara,” said Alex, smiling at the brunette. It was lucky that she had bumped into the Queen who had informed her that the princess was in this room.

“Hello Alex, to what do I owe this visit?” asked Kara, confused.

“I was wondering if you would like to go on a date?” asked Alex shyly. 

“A date?” Kara asked confused, “What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s an Earth term...it is an outing? Where two people spend time socially together to get to know each other...in hopes of moving forward to a romantic relationship,” replied Alex, trying to put it in simple terms.

“Oh,” Kara felt a bit awkward, “so like a courtship?”

“Yes,” replied Alex, nodding with a smile.

“There is no need for courtship, Alex. We have already been matched by the MatriComp,” Kara said, hoping to not have to do this. She could already picture Mon-El’s displeased face. These were things she wanted to do with him. 

“I know but we did say we are trying to be friends and that means we start to get to know each other,” smiled Alex, finding it cute how her silly Earth customs were confusing the blonde. 

Now intrigued and knowing she didn’t have any basis to refuse, Kara just nodded.

“Great!” replied Alex, pulling something out of her bag and handing it to the blonde, “please, wear this.”

Now receiving clothing as gifts was not something new to Kara but when she opened the package, she was shocked and slightly insulted to find very drab and generic black clothing, that she had never worn in her life as a princess.

‘Now I know how this looks,” Alex hastened to explain as she was the offended look on the blonde’s face, “it’s not what you are used to wearing but I believe you will experience where we’re going best if you do not draw attention to yourself.”

Kara’s brows furrowed and she looked at the brunette. Not draw attention to herself? She was the Crown Princess! But the sincerity on the brunette’s face made her push away the offence she was feeling. Maybe it was just part of the Earth custom. Nodding, she said “I’ll go change. Please wait here.”

Alex nodded stiffly, watching the princess exit the room, suddenly feeling worried that she had messed up already by offending the blonde. _What were you thinking?! She is a princess! Inline to be queen and you get her to dress like a peasant!_

It only took a few minutes for her to get dressed and Kara exited the room hesitantly. “Uhmm, I think I’m ready?”

Alex swivelled and her heart thudded in her chest. How was it that the blonde was gorgeous no matter what she wore? She was utterly smitten. Kara’s fidgeting pulled her out of her reverie, “Oh, one last thing.” Reaching for her pocket, she pulled out the item and approached the blonde, carefully slipping it onto her face. Smiling at the cuteness overload in front of her, she added, “Perfect.”

♜

Kara wasn’t sure where Alex was taking her. They definitely wouldn’t get entry to the prestigious restaurants in their attire or maybe they could because she was the princess but Alex had made sure that people wouldn’t notice she was the princess. She fidgeted with the glasses on her face despite having perfect vision, her hair tied back compared to how she normally wore it, loose. They were travelling in a small flying pod that Alex was piloting instead of the big royal vessels. Kara observed curiously as they flew past the First District where all the restaurants she knew were. She was surprised when she realised that they were going to the Third District. From the looks of it, the Fire Festival was going on. Kara had been to the entrance ceremony a few times with her family, watching from the balcony usually erected for the Royal Family.

Alex landed in the pod in a parking zone, quickly shuffling out and helping the Princess step out. She smiled when she saw the awed face that Kara was making. Linking their hands together, she pulled them forward, merging with the crowd of people roaming the festival. 

Kara looked around in awe. She had always seen the festivities from a distance, high above. Being in the crowd gave such a different experience. She’s kinda surprised no one had recognised her but it seems her disguise was quite effective. After all, no one would be expecting the princess to be dressed this way. She let herself relax and experience the colourful garbs of the people walking around, the sound of the chatter, kids squealing and the music, the variety of game stalls flashing in different colours and best of all the food stalls selling so many things, the mix of delicious smells wafting through the air and tickling her nose. 

“See anything you like?” asked Alex, noticing how the princess’ blue eyes were zooming from one food stall to another. 

Smiling shyly, Kara nodded and pointed at a row of stalls that had caught her nose’s attention the most. “Can we go there?”

“Sure Kara, we can do whatever you want,” smiled Alex as she pulled them both towards the stalls. Alex basically bought everything that caught Kara’s attention, not caring about the amount. 

“I can pay for this,” replied Kara as she saw Alex using her comms to pay for her purchases. 

“Now, that wouldn’t do,” grinned Alex, “they’ll know who you are if you use your comms. Plus I asked you for a date so it’s for me to pay.” 

“Ok...” acquiesced Kara, not understanding the Earth custom but she would let it go this once because she was definitely enjoying the anonymity. Happily taking the treats that Alex handed to her, she dug into them with gusto. Some she had definitely experienced before but some were new to her. Street food wasn’t a thing she experienced much. As an underaged Princess, she wasn't allowed to just roam the streets, being told of all the dangers that roamed the streets especially for a royal. Even now, after her Ascendence, she hesitated to give it a go and didn't want to organise a guard escort for something as frivolous as getting food. Biting into her snacks, she hummed at the variety of flavours bursting onto her tongue. She absolutely loved food. 

Relaxing, Kara walked with Alex, chatting about everything that caught her interest. Alex grabbed even more food for her every time they approached a food stall, much to her delight. They watched a kid holo show, which was basically like a puppet show but with holograms, sitting on a bench surrounded by children of all ages and kinds. They stopped to see a group of performers juggling balls of fire and even a sword-fighting duel. Kara was having a blast. She suddenly stopped in her tracks when something caught her eye.

“What is it?” asked Alex, as she followed the blonde’s eyes. She chuckled when she noticed that the princess had been captivated by what looked like a plush. It was basically just a light blue round shape with big eyes and small tentacles, that resembled a cute version of an octopus. 

“Oh nothing,” said Kara, straightening herself. It wasn’t fit for a princess to be distracted by such… silly… things!

“Come on!” said Alex, grabbing the blonde’s hand and pulling her towards the game stall. 

“Alex no,” Kara tried to pull the scientist back but she was having none of it.

Alex looked at the vendor and asked, “how do I get that?”

“The blimby?” the man asked, following Alex gaze, “you shoot 5 targets with the blaster. You only have 6 bullets,” he replied, “10 kyrs for 1 try.”

Alex frowned, that wasn’t some good odds. “Ok,” she nodded, paying and taking the blaster the man handed to her. Carefully aiming, she hit 4 targets but much to her chagrin, missed with her last two bullets.

“Ah, better luck next time!” said the vendor.

Alex noticed the sad face of the princess and decided she was going to win that blimby, no matter what it took. Paying for a second try, she corrected slightly to the right and grinned when she hit all 5 targets without any issue this time. What? She was a scientist who made weapons! She knew how to use them! She had accurately determined the gun being tampered with, judging from the left bias the bullet trajectories were having. Grinning widely when the vendor handed her the blue blimby, she turned to Kara, “here, for you.”

Kara couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she hugged the super cute and super soft animal plush, cuddling it into her chest. It was so cute! “Thank you!”

“It was nothing,’ replied Alex, flushing at the blonde’s words, hand nervously scratching the back of her head.

The rest of the night went well, with them playing some more games, Kara having a go as well. They won a few small prizes between themselves and eagerly gave them away to the little children watching them. Kara laughed at Alex buying her more food to take home as they walked back to their pod.

Alex was a bit sad that the night was ending as she landed in front of the El Tower. She helped Kara out of the vehicle and nervously walked her to her door, “I had a great night with you tonight, Kara” she said, feeling a bit shy.

“Me too, Alex,” Kara smiled, genuinely happy. She couldn’t remember the last time she had that much fun.

“I guess, I’ll see you some other time. Have a good night,” not wanting to be presumptuous as to believe she’d get a kiss from the princess, Alex gently took Kara’s hand and kissed the back of it before walking away, waving before disappearing into the pod and taking off.

Kara frowned as she stared at her hand, still feeling the heat of Alex’s lips on her skin. It made her feel weird. _Obviously, it’s weird. Mon-El is my boyfriend. Anyone else kissing me is going to be weird._

After freshening up, she settled in bed, eyeing the blue blimby plush in her hands. Its little smile and two pink dots denoting a blush made it look adorably cute and for some reason, the whole thing just reminded her of Alex. _It's just because she won it for me,_ she reasoned, shaking her head. "I guess we have a name for you… Lexie," she whispered with a smile, hugging the plush to her chest as she fell asleep. 

♜

Alex sighed for the hundredth time at her desk, staring at her computer. She was having a hard time concentrating in her work, her mind wandering to the date she had with Kara a few nights ago. She wondered what the blonde was doing at the moment.

“If you sigh one more time, I’m going to shoot you,” said Lena, looking up from the gun she was working on and glared at her best friend. 

Alex smiled sheepishly at the green-eyed brunette. It wasn’t her fault that her time with Kara had been magical. 

“Why don’t you just go see her? It’s not like you are doing any work at this point?” Lena asked, eyeing Alex’s computer screen that was on the same page for the last hour. 

“She might be busy, she’s the princess, after all. She probably has important royal things to do,” argued Alex. She really wanted to go though, “How are we going with the bracelet and ring?”

“The bracelet will be done tomorrow, but the ring might take a bit more time,” replied Lena. The engagement ceremony was just five days away.

“Ugh, let me help you with it. I can’t concentrate on work at this moment,” groaned Alex, rolling her chair to Lena’s desk. 

♜

Kara walked briskly to the El gardens. She loved the place, with all the different plants and flowers but what she loved right now was how big it was and how easy it was to just get lost in between the trees which was exactly her plan right now. Mon-El had requested for her to meet him and she was looking forward to that. She was getting more nervous as the date of the engagement ceremony got closer and really needed his reassurance that everything would be alright. 

“Kara!” called Mon-El, seeing the princess emerge from behind a few trees.

Kara ran to him and hugged him tight, loving the feeling of his strong arms around her, “Mon-El, have you thought of something for our situation?” she asked desperately. 

“I’m working on it, Kara,” Mon-El sighed. He really was working on it and was really frustrated to not have found a solution yet.

“But I’m getting engaged in five days!” argued Kara, angry that he didn’t seem like in a rush to find a solution.

“Kara, come on. It’s not that easy. Plus it’s just an engagement. I’ll have something before the wedding.” he replied, annoyed. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying. 

“But an engagement still means a lot, Mon-El. She’ll officially be my Consort. That means that she’ll be by my side at every important event. The public will see her with me, will get used to her with me.” said Kara.

“Engagements can be broken, Kara,” he reasoned, it was such a normality on Daxam. Oh, how he wished things were as easy as on his planet, “and once the public sees me next to you, the Prince of Daxam, they’ll forget all about her.” That he was sure of. No matter which planet they were on, Krypton or Daxam, being Daxamite trumped being human. 

“I don’t know…” whispered Kara, burrowing deeper into his chest. She wished that she didn’t have to do this, feeling a twinge in her heart at the thought of Alex getting caught up in all this. She wished that the Matricomp had just spit out Mon-El’s name instead. 

♜

A few hours later, Kara’s comms rang, pulling her attention away from her easel. Looking at it, she was surprised to see Alex’s name on it. 

“Hello Alex,” she said as she picked up the call, watching the holo of Alex appear in front of her. 

“Hey Kara, how are you?” asked Alex, smiling at the blonde. The little specks of paint on her face and in her hair were adorable. 

“I’m good, how are you?” asked Kara, politely. 

“I’m well, thank you. Hey, I called to invite you to a movie night with Lena, Winn and I. Would you be interested?” asked Alex. She wanted her friends and Kara to get to know each other now that the princess was going to be in her life. 

“Uhm, what’s a movie?” asked Kara, perplexed. 

“Oh, it’s ummm like a holo story? Fictional, with people acting out the story and music. It’s kinda hard to explain,” Alex said.

Kara was interested, she liked holo stories. “Ok, when is it?”

“I was thinking, tonight? We are organising dinner and snacks as well, so you don’t have to worry about anything,” replied Alex, suddenly feeling super excited at the blonde coming, “we start at 6 pm at my house.”

“Ok, I’ll be there,” replied Kara, smiling genuinely at the thought of Alex including her in her activities, like a true friend.

“Alright! I’ll see you then. Have a good day, Kara,” 

“You too, Alex” replied Kara before hanging up. She had a few hours before having to get ready. Picking back her paintbrush, she went back to her canvas.

♜

Kara pulled at her dress as she stepped out of her vessel, giving a nod to the pilot to indicate he could pull away. She had had quite a difficult time choosing what to wear, and it took her an hour to pick the knee length flowery yellow dress she was wearing. She had liked it the first time she had seen it in the store, the style originating from Earth so she thought it would be appropriate. Fashion in Krypton had evolved with input from planets all around the galaxies and Kara definitely liked the bright colours to her usual dark blue or white Kryptonian robes. 

Carefully walking through Alex’s driveway, she took a few minutes to observe the green grass and the flowers around her. The fragrances were quite interesting and she wondered if she could get Alex to give her a tour sometimes or even allow her to set up an easel here to paint some of them. Arriving at the door, she knocked nervously. The door was ripped open and Kara found looking at Alex’s friend, Lena. The green-eyed brunette was dressed in a simple white shirt and black slacks. 

“Come on in, princess,” grinned Lena, sidestepping away from the doorway to let the blonde in. 

“Please call me Kara,” replied Kara. After all, Alex’s friends should be allowed to address her more familiarly. 

“It’s an honour, Kara. Call me Lena. Come, the others are setting up,” 

“Hello Princess,” smiled Winn as she noticed the blonde walk into the living room. He was typing away at his tablet to set up the movies to the main screen on the wall. 

Again, Kara asked him to call her by her name, which prompted him to ask the same to her. She took a seat on the couch to the urging of the two and fiddled with the hem of her dress, looking around for Alex. She was a bit nervous. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to interacting with strangers. After all, she was a Princess, she had been trained for that. It was just that with Alex being her friend, she really wanted the brunette’s friends to like her. Maybe they’d become her friends too?

Footsteps coming down the stairs made her turn and she noticed Alex appearing, dressed in a black shirt and black pants. Kara realised that the woman liked black a lot. 

“Kara,” Alex smiled as she approached the princess and taking one good look at her was surprised to see her dressed in a dress, Earth-style. The yellow paired up with the blonde hair made her look radiant, sunny even, “you look beautiful.”

Kara blushed, not expecting the compliment, “thank you,” she whispered, feeling a bit awkward. 

“Alex, check on the pizzas. I make popcorn later,” instructed Lena, rummaging through the cupboards to pull a bag of something. 

Kara watched as Alex hopped into the adjacent room, clearly visible due to the open plan of the floor and opened the oven, a delicious smell filling the room, making Kara’s mouth water. 

“Yep, it’s done. I’m pulling them out,” called Alex, pulling three circles out of the oven, similar to the chocolate pie that Alex had shown her before though this time, it was larger and the colours and smell were all different. Kara wondered if the humans always made their food in circles or spheres like the pie, this ‘pizzas’ and the bonbon.

Kara was happy that the couch was a two-seater as Alex slipped next to her, dropping the pizzas on the low coffee table in front of her. Lena and Winn settled into another two-seater. 

“So what are we watching,” asked Winn, looking around. He already had the list of all movies available pulled up onto his tablet and just needed to select one. Since it was the Princess’ first movie, they had left the choice to Alex.

“Hmm, I’m not sure what Kara would like...so maybe something simple and safe to start?” suggested Alex. It was a safe choice. She wasn’t sure the blonde would like her horror movies. 

“Spider-man?” suggested Winn. Alex rolled her eyes at that.

“Harry Potter,” suggested Lena. Alex thought about it and nodded. 

“Harry Potter it is,” said Winn, starting the first movie of the series. 

Kara watched enraptured as the lights were turned off and the big screen filled with images. It wasn’t like holograms, there was nothing three-dimensional about them. It was more like a two-dimensional recording. 

“Grab your pizza slices,” said Lena, pulling one of the pies towards her and Winn. 

Alex picked up a plate and loaded it with a few pieces of fresh pizza, offering it to the princess, “Here, we eat while watching. Be careful, it’s hot.” 

“Thank you,” replied Kara, observing Alex’s friends how they bit into the triangular pieces, using their hands. Picking up a slice, she tentatively blew onto it to cool it down before taking a bite. God, Earth food was so good! She blushed when she realised she had moaned out loud but it seems that the sound from the movie had drowned it out as Winn and Lena was looking at the screen. A chuckle from beside her alerted her that Alex had heard her. 

“You really like food, don’t you?” Alex stated the obvious, taking a bite of her own slice. 

Kara looked at the brunette, checking if she was disgusted by her gluttony but the amusement in the hazel eyes made her relax. After all, Alex hadn’t said anything at the festival, instead buying her more food. She nodded shyly, pulling her attention back to the movie. 

The pizzas were demolished by the time they reached intermission and Lena paused the movie to go make popcorn while Winn went to refill their drinks. 

“How are you doing thus far?” asked Alex, eyeing the blonde.

“I’m good! It’s fascinating! I’ve never seen magic like that,” replied Kara.

“Ah, it’s a story, it’s not real,” replied Alex, “I mean well we know some planets have magic but this one is all fiction.”

“Really?” asked Kara, slightly disappointed. She had wanted to go get herself one of those wands so she could do magic, “how do they make it look real like that?”

Smiling, Alex launched into an explanation of special effects, and Kara listened attentively. She was surprised at the ingenuity and story-telling art of the humans. Even the music was amazing! The sounds of multiple pops suddenly startled her and she jumped into Alex's arms in alarm, looking around frantically.

“Hey, hey,” Alex saw the fear on the blonde’s face and tightened her arms around her, trying to reassure her, “it’s just the popcorn.” 

Kara looked into Alex’s hazel eyes and it took her a few seconds to calm herself that there was no danger, “Ok…” she breathed out, blushing as she pulled away from the brunette. 

“Come, I’ll show you,” said Alex, taking the blonde's hand and pulling her into the kitchen. She showed her the popcorn machine that Lena was manning, “It’s corn kernels. A dried vegetable seed from Earth. When it is heated up, it pops. Thus the name popcorn.” Alex explained, showing the popping kernels. Kara watched through the glass as the yellow seeds popped into fluffy white shapes. 

Lena expertly made the popcorn. A large buttery salty as well as sweet one by Alex’s insistence, knowing it was for the sweet-toothed princess to try. 

Kara thanked Lena when the woman gave her the food as they all resettled back onto the couch, to watch the rest of the movie. Kara was surprised at the taste of the popcorn, it was an interesting snack and wasn’t sure which one she liked the most, the salty one or the sweet one. Happy that she didn’t have to choose, she eagerly alternated between the two, relaxing into the soft couch to watch the rest of Harry Potter’s movie. She liked the Hermione girl. What an interesting name!

Soon the movie ended and Kara was surprised how well the evening had gone. She had enjoyed it, the movie, the food as well as the company of Alex’s friends. It felt good to have friends. She couldn’t remember the last time she had the chance to sit with people like that and enjoy their time together. Her parents were always busy with Krypton’s royal affairs while Aunt Astra was busy overseeing the military. Even her aunt, uncle and cousin from her father’s side visited rarely. The only company she had had was Mon-El but it was always short due to him spending most of his time on Daxam and also tense, due to their sneaking around and hiding. It felt good to relax. She hoped that after Mon-El found a solution to the marriage, Alex would still want to be friends with her. 

  
♜♜♜  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts about the story, I'd really appreciate it! :) Thanks


	4. Kandonian Steel

Kara couldn’t believe that the day of the engagement ceremony was here. She looked at herself in the mirror, dressed in formal dark blue robes with gold accents, her hair loose, the golden curls framing her face. One last look to make sure everything was in place, she walked to her bed and picked up the box on her pillow, opening it to reveal a beautiful silver-blue bracelet with the crest of El engraved in it, slightly different to her parents’ one. This one was her own. She noticed the unknown symbol entwined with her sigil and could accurately guess that it had something to do with Alex. After all, her parents had consulted with the brunette before getting the bracelet made. She felt a pinch in her chest as the fact that Mon-El’s emblem was nowhere on the bracelet and sighed. 

Closing the lid, she walked out of her room with the box to meet her parents. 

♜

Alex was currently in one of the rooms in the Tower of El, nervously pulling at the dark blue Kryptonian robes she had on. The robes were quite comfortable but the sigil of El on the cloth was feeling kind of intimate in some sense. She trailed her fingers reverently on the raised pattern on her chest, noticing the difference to the usual El pattern. The difference was slight but Alex knew it was Kara’s crest. She knew that because she had studied the design during the engraving on the bracelet Lena and her had been making for Kara. She felt honoured to wear the blonde’s symbol. 

The others were already waiting for her in the ceremony hall. She was quite anxious. She had been there for the blonde’s ascension and coronation and the hall had been packed and the whole thing had been broadcasted to the population. It’d be the same this time. Usually, she wouldn’t care about crowds, it didn’t bother her but this time they would be focused on her. Checking her appearance once last time, she walked out, happy to see Lena and Winn waiting for her. 

“Your parents are already settled in the hall,” said Lena, handing out the jewellery box housing the bracelet to the brunette. 

“Thanks, guys,” she replied, trying to calm her shaking hands as she took the box.

♜

The ceremony started with an announcement of the betrothed women, both coming into the hall from opposing doors, walking to the centre of the stage. The parents were already there, flanking them on each side. Every time Alex looked at the princess, she was mesmerised by how beautiful she was and quite humbled that she was going to join with her. Kara, on her end, was quite surprised as to how good the brunette looked in formal Kryptonian garb, a more masculine style consisting of a vest and pants, with a cloak attached to the shoulders, the colour being even darker than Kara’s garb, closer to black.

“We are gathered here to celebrate the engagement of Crown Princess Kara Zor-El with Inventor Alexandra Danvers,” announced the High Priest of the High Council, “To promise their souls to each other, they bring forward their bonding bracelets, touched with a merging of their sigils to show their will to merge souls. Crown Princess Kara Zor-El, please present your bracelet,” he instructed. 

Kara shakily pulled the bracelet out of its box, allowing her mother to take the box away. Everything in her was screaming to stop the ceremony and not do this but she could feel all eyes on her. Reaching over to take Alex’s left hand, she slipped the bracelet on, watching as the Kandonian metal morphed to fit Alex’s wrist. 

“Alexandra Danvers, please present your bracelet,” 

Alex’s heart thudded in her chest as she picked up the bracelet specially made for the blonde, not even noticing her mother taking the box out of her hands. She gently, almost reverently, took Kara’s left hand and slipped the gleaming bracelet on, sure that her heart had jumped out of her chest to the blonde’s feet. She was loving the look of the bracelet on the blonde’s wrist. Her gaze automatically switched to the one on her own wrist, the new weight filling her heart to the brim. 

“By the light of Rao, I announce Crown Princess Kara Zor-El betrothed to Consort Inventor Alexandra Danvers. May the light of Rao guide you both,” concluded the High Priest.

The crowd clapped, shocking Alex out of her daze staring at the bracelet around her wrist and looked up at Kara. 

Kara knew she needed to go with the motions of her engagement and follow Kryptonian traditions. Taking Alex’s hand, she pulled her to follow her to the main floor where they opened the dance, Kara watching as others joined them on the dance floor after a few minutes. “Are you ok?” she asked, now noticing the shake in the brunette’s hands. No matter how much she didn’t want this engagement, she had started to care about her new friend.

“Yes sorry, just not used to the attention,” replied Alex, composing herself. She wasn’t being truthful though, she didn’t really care about the crowd at this point, she was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact she was engaged to the woman she was absolutely heads over heels in love with. 

“I understand, it takes some getting used to,” whispered Kara, picking out Mon-El on the dance floor, twirling around with an unknown woman. A stab of jealousy hit her chest but she kept her face neutral.

“You are an amazing Princess, Kara. I admire your composure” said Alex as she led them through the Kryptonian dance fluidly. Despite all the nerves and shock, she could still dance, thank god! 

Kara smiled at the unusual compliment. She received a lot of compliments as a princess but it was mostly about her looks. This one was different. 

As soon as the first song ended, dignitaries started cutting in and Kara and Alex separated. Alex knew she now had to fulfil a role as the Princess’ Consort and that meant dancing with the strangers. 

“Alexandra Danvers,” hummed the man leading her in the next song, “I hear you are an inventor. Tell me, what sort of tampering did you do to get the MatriComp to spit out your name as a mate to the princess.”

“Excuse me?” Alex’s legs stilled, pulling them both to a stop. She winced when the man continued to dance, dragging her along. She snapped herself out of the shock at the man’s words and started dancing again, not wanting to cause a scene. 

“Please, you really believe that we, Kryptonians, are happy about this union? A human for our amazing princess? You really want us to believe that the MatriComp picked you to be more fitting for the princess? Out of all the people in the surrounding planets,?” he whispered sharply into her ear.

Alex gritted her teeth, wanting nothing more than to shove the man away but she really didn’t want to cause a scene and embarrass Kara. She sighed in relief when someone else asked to cut in.

Kara smiled when she heard Mon-El’s voice asking to cut in her dance with a member of the Judiciary Guild. She allowed him to take her hands and lead her to the rhythm of the music. “Mon-El...” she breathed out, loving how dashing he looked in his military dress uniform. It was supposed to be like that, both of them betrothed and dancing together. 

“Kara, you look radiant,” said Mon-El, smiling gently at her.

“Thank you, I wish this whole ceremony was about us,” whispered Kara, looking into his eyes.

“I know, love. Trust me, we’ll be together,” he smiled confidently. 

♜

Alex’s jaw was so tightly clenched, it was starting to hurt. It had been an hour already and out of all the people she had danced with, most of them had been rude, accusing her of tampering with the MatriComp. As soon as the song ended, she pulled away from the man she was dancing with and made her way to her friends, hoping to get a bit of a reprieve. Lena and Winn saw the stormy face of the brunette and pulled her towards them, hiding her from the crowd with their bodies. 

“What’s going on?” asked Lena, unsure of why her best friend looked like she was going to burst into tears and rip someone apart, at the same time. She had thought that being engaged to the woman she loved would have made the brunette ecstatic.

“I’m just tired…” she lied, looking around. She noticed her parents engaged in conversation with the King and Queen while Kara was happily dancing with a man from the military. He looked kind of familiar. 

“Are you sure?” asked Winn, concerned at the look on the brunette’s face.

“Yeah, I just feel tired. Kinda want to go to bed,” Alex replied.

“Well, we should be able to retreat soon. The party will go on without us. The King and Queen were going to leave in a few minutes,” said Lena.

“Hmm, I don’t want to leave without speaking to Kara,” she said, conflicted. She wanted to at least say bye to the blonde but didn’t want to walk onto the dance floor again.

“I’ll grab her for you,” said Lena, still trying to figure out what had brought her friend into such a mood. Shuffling away, she walked to the princess. “Kara? Can I have a moment, Alex would like to speak to you,” she said as she approached the dancing pair.

“Oh...ok. Excuse me,” reluctantly letting go of Mon-El, Kara followed Lena to the brunette, frowning at having been interrupted in her dance with her boyfriend. Her frown deepened when she saw Alex’s pale face “Alex?”

“Kara,” Alex breathed a sigh of relief at the approaching blonde, “I’m sorry for taking you away from your fun. I just wanted to say goodnight before I go,” she whispered, taking the time to gaze at the blonde, willing her brain to memorise everything. After all, this has been her engagement with the woman she loved, it was worth remembering.

“You are leaving?” asked Kara, surprised.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m feeling very tired,” she replied, feeling bad about lying to the blonde. 

“Ok, I’ll escort you to your parents,” replied Kara, knowing that it was her duty to do so.

They walked to their parents, where the groups said their goodbyes. Kara watched worriedly at Alex’s ashen face, wondering if the crowd had been too much for the brunette or she was falling sick or something. Seeing her own parents retire as well, Kara knew it would look weird for her to be the only one staying so she sent a quick glance at Mon-El before retreating back to her own chambers. 

♜

Alex locked the door behind her as she walked into her bedroom. She stopped in front of her mirror to give a last look at her Kryptonian robes and shed them, walking into her ensuite to take a shower. When she finished, she got dressed in comfy sweats and an old T-shirt before slipping under the blankets. As she curled on her side, she brought her left hand up, running her fingers over the surprisingly warm bracelet on her wrist. The crest entwined with the El crest made her smile. An infinity symbol with a sword going through the loops. It had taken her some thought to know what to use as her symbol, one that would be fitting to fit with Kara’s, one to show her Earth roots. Infinity seemed to just fit, as a show of her commitment to the princess, which was endless and the sword was to promise that she would protect her in every way. She sighed as the insults from earlier came back to the forefront of her mind. She knew that some Kryptonians were quite wary of humans but hadn’t really expected such accusations, the racism and xenophobia. She hoped it would die down when she shows her commitment and loyalty to their princess. 

♜

Kara sighed as she settled in her bed, feeling weird at the weight on her wrist… her bonding bracelet. She had forgotten to ask the brunette what her symbol meant. It didn’t matter anyway, it wasn’t supposed to be on her wrist. The silver-blue colour to the metal was quite unique and she felt a hint of disappointment knowing that her bracelet with Mon-El would be different, as she really liked this colour but only pairs could match each other and Kara knew only Alex’s could match this one. She could live with it though, as long as she had Mon-El by her side. 

♜♜

Kara’s brows furrowed as she looked at her canvas, she wasn’t getting the colour right and it was irritating her. Deciding to take a break, she put her tools down and walked to the window, admiring the city of Argo outside, pods flying around, people walking about. The city was always in movement. 

It had been a few weeks since the engagement and Kara had spent quite some time with Alex since, going on more dates, having more movie nights with Lena, Winn and her. It had been quite nice and Kara was thoroughly enjoying having friends which is why she was a bit unsettled at this time. Alex always called to check on her and she hadn’t heard from the brunette for the last three days. Had she said something to offend the brunette by mistake the last time they saw each other? Had she done an Earthly faux-pas without knowing? Trying to remember their last interactions, nothing seemed to be out of place. 

Deciding that there was no point pondering about it as it would fix nothing, she decided to do something about it. _But what? Should I call Alex? Or go see her at the Science Guild?_ Deciding that it would do her some good to get out of the Tower, she cleaned herself up and set off for Alex’s workplace. 

Despite having only come here once with Astra, she found the lab pretty easily. 

“Kara!” Lena exclaimed, seeing the princess walk in, “what are you doing here?” 

“Oh hi, Lena,” Kara smiled, she had gotten more comfortable with Alex’s friends/family after all the movie nights they had to watch all the eight Harry Potter movies, “I was here looking for Alex,” she replied, looking around for any sign of the brunette.

“Oh,” Lena frowned, “she’s not here. Didn’t she tell you? She’s sick.”

Kara immediately got concerned, “sick? No, she didn’t tell me anything.”

“Yeah, a new group of humans arrived on Krypton and seemed they brought the flu with them. Alex got infected so now she’s kinda quarantined in the West-Wing of the Med Bay. We haven’t managed to visit her since but we call her regularly.”

“Oh, is...is she going to be ok?” Kara was stricken at the news. People didn’t get sick much on Krypton and if they did, it was usually fatal. 

“Ah yeah, it’s a normal earthly cold, she’ll be miserable but it’s nothing threatening,” said Lena, trying to reassure the worried blonde, “it’s only contagious to humans.” 

“Oh, so I can visit her?” asked Kara.

“Yeah, they should let you in. She’s only quarantined so they can stop the spreading to other humans as they work to eradicate the virus but as a Kryptonian, you should be able to go in just fine.”

“Thanks, Lena, I’ll go visit her now,” replied Kara, already turning away towards the door. 

“Yeah, say hi to her for us and tell her to get well soon,” replied Lena, waving bye at the departing blonde. 

Kara got herself to the Med Bay easily and being a princess, was immediately shown to Alex’s room. 

“Her temperature is still high but there is nothing we can do about that, she just needs rest,” the Healer briefed the princess as she showed her to the correct room. 

Kara stopped in front of the door and turned to the Healer who had shown her the way, “May I ask why I wasn’t informed?” 

The Healer looked surprised at the question before looking at her tablet, “Uhmm, I’m sorry your Highness, it seemed that Alexandra Danvers asked for her status to not be communicated to you.” 

Kara frowned, “As her betrothed and as the Princess, I ask for all medical situations pertaining to Alexandra Danvers to be communicated to me, effective immediately.”

“Yes, your Highness,” replied the Healer, already typing away furiously at her tablet. 

And with that settled, Kara opened the door, stepping into what looked like a living room. It was more of a suite really, resembling an apartment. At least they had treated the brunette as the princess’ betrothed, providing one of the best suites. She found Alex on the couch, shivering underneath multiple blankets.

“Alex?” she called out worriedly, approaching the brunette carefully. 

“Kara?” Alex’s head lifted up as she opened bleary eyes, hoping to locate the voice that called her name. The image was fuzzy but she could clearly recognise the blonde princess. 

“Hey, I heard you were sick and I came to see you. Why are you not in bed?” asked Kara concerned, looking at the brunette’s pale face. 

“Hmmmm, it’s less lonely here…” the brunette murmured, weakly gesturing at the sounds coming out of the screen that was set up in the room. There hadn’t been one in the bedroom. 

Kara sat beside the curled up scientist, gazing at her sympathetically. She assumed that it had been three days she had been cooped up here since that was when she stopped hearing from the brunette and with no visitors allowed, human ones at least, she must have felt pretty lonely since the category encompassed her whole family. 

“Whatcha doing here..?” hummed Alex, feeling a bit disoriented. Where did the blonde appear from? 

The brunette was definitely behaving out of character and Kara found it endearing. Deciding to stay for a bit to keep the woman company, she righted the blanket that had been knocked off and covered Alex properly. “Why don’t you go to sleep? The Healer said you need rest.”

“Hmm, sleep…” Alex murmured, “you’ll stay?” 

Kara smiled at the childish tone in Alex’s voice and patted her head, concerned at the heat coming off the brunette’s skin, “yeah, I’ll stay for a bit.”

“Thank you,” Alex smiled, before burrowing deeper into her blanket, eyes fluttering shut and falling asleep in a matter of seconds. 

_She’s cute like this,_ Kara thought, watching the brunette sleep for a bit before shifting her attention to whatever the brunette had been watching on the screen. 

Kara ended up staying for quite a while with Alex. The brunette had woken up after an hour with the Healer coming to check on her and bringing her some food. While her temperature had decreased a bit, it was still higher than normal. Perks of being a princess allowed Kara to get some food as well, so she had dinner with the brunette before saying goodbye. 

Now, walking through the hallways of the El Tower to get back to her room, she hoped that the brunette got well soon and decided to give her a call tomorrow to check on her. 

♜♜♜

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts about the story, I'd really appreciate it! :) Thanks


	5. Rao's Diamond

Alex walked into her lab, happy to be out and about again. She hated being sick.

“Hey, you’re back!” Winn said, waving at her. 

She smiled at him and replied, “yeah, it’s good to be back. Things still standing?” she teased.

Winn huffed, affronted that she would think that things would go to hell. He had only blown something once, ONCE! And it had been an accident!

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Lena said as she saw Alex. Making a beeline for the short-haired brunette, she hugged her. She had missed her best friend, it had been six days.

“I’m well now. Completely recovered,” Alex replied, returning the hug. 

“Well, that’s good because I finished something for you two days ago,” grinned Lena, depositing a black velvet box in the brunette’s hand.

Alex’s eyes widened as she lifted her box, gasping when she flicked the lip open, “Wow.”

“Wow, indeed!” laughed Lena, “She’s gonna love it!”

♜

Kara had called Alex every day since that first visit and even revisited her one more time so she was ecstatic when Alex called to tell her that she had been discharged with a clean bill of health. 

She was on her way to a fancy restaurant in the First District right now, after the brunette had invited her for dinner and she was quite excited about it, having missed their little excursions together when the brunette had been quarantined in the Med Bay. She was dressed up to the nines, in a flowing shimmering golden dress that she loved a lot due to how it reflected the light. Her blonde curls fell loosely on her shoulders, just the way she liked it. The pilot stopped in front of the restaurant right on time and as she entered the establishment, the staff escorted her to a dedicated table. She was surprised to see Alex already there, waiting for her.

“Hey,” she greeted as she took a seat at the table.

“Hey,” replied Alex, smiling at the vision in front of her, “you… you look amazing.”

“Thank you,” replied Kara, blushing slightly at the compliment, dropping her eyes shyly at the screen embedded in the table, flicking through the menu. “You look great as well,” said Kara, looking back up at the black suit that the brunette was wearing, with a grey shirt and a nice black tie.

“So, anything you recommend on the menu?” asked Alex, conversationally as she flicked through her own screen, on her side of the table. 

“Hmm, the Atmek is amazing or the Hunis, I think I’m gonna get that,” replied Kara as she tapped the dish on the screen to put in her order. 

“Hmm, I’ll get the Atmek then,” replied Alex, feeling confident about the dish, it had meat from a chicken-type animal that she had tasted before and liked so it was a safe option, plus if Kara liked it, it must be good. She watched as Kara ordered Algonian wine but Alex decided to stick to non-alcoholic as she felt the weight of the box in her shirt pocket. 

Their food and drinks arrived quickly and Alex smiled in adoration as Kara’s blue eyes lit up as soon as the food was deposited in front of her, reaching for her utensils and digging in, humming and moaning as the first morsel touched her tongue. It took her a few seconds to get her own attention to her own food and she was quite satisfied that it was delicious. They did a bit of chitchat, about the movies Kara had watched with Alex, the places they had visited as they ate. Half an hour later, Alex decided to find a bit more about the princess.

“So, we have spent a lot of time together, you’ve met my friends and family, spent time with us watching movies and all and I’ve noticed that you haven’t said much about yourself,” remarked Alex.

Kara’s fork stilled on her plate and she looked at the brunette in surprise, she hadn’t noticed that, she had been all fascinated with Alex and all the Earthly things. Plus, she was the Princess, people felt they knew everything about her already, “What do you want to know?” she asked curiously and a bit warily. She took a sip of her drink to temper down her nerves. 

“Hmm…” Alex contemplated the question, seeing the hesitation on the blonde’s face, “What’s your favourite colour?” 

Kara spluttered her wine, quickly reaching for her napkin to wipe her mouth. Her favourite colour?! That was definitely not the question she had been expecting. 

Alex cocked an eyebrow at the spluttering blonde and grinned, “What? Don’t tell me you don’t have one?”

Gaining her composure again, Kara placed her glass back on the table, “No, I do. I just wasn’t expecting that question.”

“It’s not an inquisition, princess,” Alex teased, “you can ask me a question in return for every question I ask you and if you do not want to answer something, you can be honest and just say so,” she said, smiling reassuringly at the blonde. 

Kara relaxed, “It’s red,” she smiled, “and blue. What about yours?”

Alex grinned at the double answer and replied, “black” spearing another piece of her ‘chicken’ and popping it into her mouth, chewing the juicy meat.

“Black, really?” asked Kara, though she could have guessed that, “there are so many more pretty colours, brighter colours!” she argued. 

Alex shrugged, grinning at the princess’ affront to her choice. It was so like the blonde to not like such a dark colour, as she was the impersonation of Earth’s sunshine itself. “Next question, what are your hobbies?” 

Kara cleaned up her plate, she had really demolished through her dinner and was still feeling a bit peckish. She wondered if she should order something more, “Painting,” she eyed the other piece of Atmek Alex was slicing carefully. 

Alex noticed the blonde’s gaze on her food and she tried hard to hide her smile, she had kinda anticipated that. Pushing her plate in the middle of the table, she cocked her head at the blonde’s utensil.

Kara looked confused at the brunette, following Alex head’s gesture and found herself staring at her fork. Looking back at the brunette, she saw the brunette cut another slice of the Atmek and push it on the plate towards her. Finally understanding, she grinned as she picked her fork and speared the meat and popped in her mouth, moaning. The Atmek was amazing as always.

“Painting, huh? That’s interesting. I’d love to see your paintings,” replied Alex, putting her utensils down, enjoying watching the blonde demolish through her food. 

Kara blushed, chewing her food before swallowing, “I can show you someday…” she replied, feeling a bit nervous about it. Only her family had seen her paintings but Alex was a friend, so it should be ok, right? “What about you? What are your hobbies?” She should really try to formulate her own questions instead of asking the same questions as the brunette. 

Alex shrugged, “Hmm, here it’s a bit different? Martial arts. I also like camping so sometimes I go camping in the Kryptonian woods. I did surfing.”

“You camp?” Kara was quite surprised to hear that, she hadn’t thought of Alex as an outdoors person. She frowned when she realised that she didn’t understand the rest of what Alex said, “what is surfing?”

“It’s a sport,” replied Alex, taking a sip of her drink, “You ride waves upright on a board, in the ocean.”

Kara gasped, her fork falling from her grip clanging on the plate, “isn’t that dangerous, Alex?! You could die! The seas are poisonous!” 

Alex laughed, taking the blonde’s hands in hers to calm her down, “no, no, definitely not surfing here on Krypton. I meant, I used to surf on Earth. Earth’s oceans are not poisonous, they are only salty. You can swim in it and ride waves.”

Kara’s eyes widened at the information. An ocean that you could swim in, wow! They had pools here on Krypton, she had one in the El Tower but the ocean was large and she wondered what it would feel like to swim in such a vast body of liquid. She wondered why it was salty though, it made no sense. It was already crazy that people could drink it, taste it! Here, you’d end up dead but now it kinda made Kara wonder what did the Kryptonian seas taste like. 

“Do you want dessert?” asked Alex, already knowing the answer.

Kara grinned and brought her attention back to the screen on the table, flicking through the options. “Yes!” she kinda squealed, “I don’t know what to choose!” she added, whining. It was always the same problem every single time, it took her so long to settle on something.

“Well, I hope you don’t mind but I kinda already picked as a surprise for you,” replied Alex, feeling nervous, “if you want to pick something else, you totally can.” 

Kara looked curiously at the nervous brunette. She didn’t know how she felt over someone choosing her dessert, after all, it was her favourite part of a meal but she definitely likes surprises. Deciding to just go with it, she nodded at the brunette, who breathed a sigh of relief and tapped away at her own screen.

It didn’t take long for the waiter to come with a dessert and Kara’s eyes widened in glee. It was a chocolate pecan pie! Alex grinned at the joy nearly lighting up the blonde’s cerulean eyes like the sun. She had picked the right choice. 

“Oh, cho-co-late pie!” Kara squealed for real this time. She practically vibrated in her seat as she watched Alex cut the pie and serve her a large piece. She didn’t wait to dig it and groaned as the cho-co-late coated her tongue. It was the bestest dessert in the entire universe! She was sure of that! She shoved another mouthful in her mouth, humming in pleasure. 

Alex laughed, eyes shining in adoration. Kara was too cute for her own good. God, she was done, could already feel herself melting in a pile of goo. It was crazy how much she felt for the princess and the more she learnt about the blonde, the more she fell in love. Being in love from so near was so different to her love from afar. From here, she could hear all the sounds the blonde made when she was demolishing her food... When she was excited, shocked, she could see her cute mannerisms and the shine in her azure eyes. She could see her smile, the shimmer in her blonde locks, the little crinkle just between her brows when she was worried, the cute little tilt of her head when she was curious… all making her fall more in love.

They ate their dessert, Alex flicking some more harmless questions around. Soon the pie was over, most of it eaten by Kara and Alex was classifying the dinner as a success, based on the brilliant smile on the princess as they exited the restaurant. “Would you like to go for a walk? There is a park over there,” asked Alex, pointing at a street as they exited the restaurant.

“Uh, sure,” answered Kara. It was the first time someone asked her to go to the park with them. Kara had asked her parents to go with her multiple times but they always insisted on going back to the El Tower after their dinner. 

They arrived at the park in just a few minutes as it was pretty close by. The two walked the stone path, blanketed by purple grass and tall trees with purple leaves. Alex looked at them, always in wonder. What green was to Earth plants, purple was to Kryptonian plants. They reached a bench overlooking a clear blue Kryptonian-made pond, with a fountain in the middle, depicting a man and woman holding the planet Krypton in their hands. 

“They depict my great great great grandparents,” said Kara as she saw the brunette look at the statue figures curiously. She sat onto the bench, watching the water shining under the lampposts. 

Alex nodded and took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders, turning to look at the blonde. She didn’t think she had ever felt this nervous in her life and she had just gotten engaged to the Princess of Krypton just a few weeks ago, under the gaze of so many people. 

Kara was a bit startled at the seriousness of Alex’s face as the brunette turned to face her. “Alex?” she asked hesitantly. 

“Kara…” Alex took a deep breath, “I have something to say and it’s kinda hard to say…. Could you please listen until I’m done before you say anything?” she asked nervously. 

Kara could only nod, gripping the bench tightly. Had she offended the brunette during dinner? Did she not want to be her friend anymore because of it? She had to apologise. 

Alex walked closer to the seated blonde, dropping onto her knee in front of her and looked up into the blonde’s eyes. “I...I…” huffing at her inarticulate self, Alex took another deep breath, “I came to Krypton around two years ago. It was amazing, it was like magic, everything was so different, it felt like a whole new world,” she laughed at that, “it was a whole new world. Yet, none of it took my breath away until….until I saw you for the first time,” Alex whispered.

Kara gasped inwardly, not sure where this was going.

“Just shy of a week on this new planet, I attended a Royal Announcement and you were there sitting beside your parents. A Princess… I was blown away and a bit devastated,” Alex chuckled at that, “I mean, you are you and I’m me. There was no way… With time, my feelings for you just grew despite the impossibility of things. I fell in love…” Alex gazed deeply in the shocked blue eyes of the blonde, “Imagine my shock that the Matricomp chose me… me for you,” Alex couldn’t keep her disbelief from her voice, she still couldn’t believe it even as she gazed on the bracelet on her left wrist, “but here we are. It happened. I’ve never believed in destiny, fate but I’m starting to. We’re engaged to marry and I’ve… I’ve never been so happy…”

The sincerity in the brunette’s voice blew Kara away. She hadn’t thought Alex would be in love with her...and for so long! It was supposed to be all easy! Easy for Alex to understand that she wanted to be with Mon-El, when they broke the engagement. It was supposed to be easy for Alex to understand that the MatriComp had been wrong. Alex was supposed to get out of this unaffected, unhurt. 

“I know we are already engaged, at least in the Kryptonian way and I’m honoured to be your betrothed. I wanted to share my Earth customs with you as well..,” Pulling the box out of her pocket, Alex flicked the lid open, presenting the red diamond ring to the blonde, “On Earth, we exchange rings. It’s a diamond, symbolising purity and perfection, which fits you perfectly,” she said, smiling as she picked the ring up, “diamonds also mean commitment, faithfulness and promise, which are my promises to you. Instead of a clear diamond, like we usually do on Earth, I chose red to honour your Kryptonian roots, your red sun and to promise you, Kara Zor-El, that you are my Rao. Will you marry me?” asked Alex shyly. 

Kara gapped at the brunette. Alex had just called her Rao. Rao was their red sun, their God. Their devotion to it was ultimate. It was a clear statement to just how great Alex’s devotion to her was. She was lost for words, it was finally sinking in just what the brunette felt for her and how much this whole charade was going to end up hurting the brunette. 

Alex waited patiently, sweating a bit. She was still scared, despite being engaged already. She could see from the blonde’s expression that what she said had really shocked Kara.

Kara gulped, knowing she had to give an answer, her gaze locked on hopeful hazels, the brunette’s trembling hand still holding up the magnificent red diamond ring. “Yes,” she whispered, feeling tears well up in her eyes, from guilt as she watched the hazel eyes light up with joy. 

Alex grinned and gently picked the blonde’s left wrist, fingers swiping affectionately at the bonding bracelet already on there, before carefully slipping the engagement ring on Kara’s ring finger. She deposited a kiss to the ring, looking back up at the blonde, grinning widely. Getting up from the ground, she sat beside the blonde, cupping her face and wiping the tears with her thumb, “I love you,” whispered Alex, so happy to finally be able to say those words freely. Leaning in, she stopped just a breath away from the blonde’s lips, eyes asking for permission.

Kara felt guilt ravage her insides as hazel eyes looked at her with such love and adoration. She felt like the worst kind of person. Closing her eyes, she nodded slowly. Seconds went by with nothing happening until she felt a pressure against her forehead, warm and soft. It felt deep despite just being a simple press of lips to her forehead. Never had she been kissed like that. Kara felt like she could feel all the emotions coming from Alex. It was overwhelming. 

Alex pulled away, eyes still closed. That kiss had been everything despite the chasteness of it. She really wanted to kiss the blonde but she knew Kryptonians weren’t so blase about such things. Slowly opening her eyes, she smiled lovingly at the look on Kara’s face, eyes still closed tight. Pressing a quick kiss on the blonde’s cheek, she smiled as the blue eyes fluttered open, swimming with so many emotions. 

The rest of the night went in kind of a daze for Kara and it wasn’t long before she said goodbye to Alex, who had accompanied her back to the El Tower. The brunette shyly gave her another peck on the cheek before waving, disappearing down the path. Kara walked to her chambers and robotically changed out of her dress and into her sleepwear. As she settled on her bed, the light caught the diamond on her finger as she went to pull her blanket over her and her breath hitched.  _ Rao, what had she done?! _

♜♜♜

  
  
  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts about the story, I'd really appreciate it! :) Thanks


	6. Interplanatary Tensions

Queen Alura stomped through the hallway as she walked to her room. As soon as she entered, her husband turned to look at her and frowned.

“What has got you all of sorts?” asked Zor-El, seeing the thunderous look on his wife’s face.

“Queen Rhea of Daxam! That witch requested a call which I accepted but then she dared to accuse us of forcibly holding her son on Krypton. I told her we had nothing to do with it, he is here on his own choice!” growled Alura.

“Couldn’t she just ask her son directly?” asked Zor-El.

“Seems like the Prince has already told her he is here on his own will but she refuses to believe that. She thinks we have brainwashed him or are controlling him or something,” Alura rolled her eyes at the nonsense coming of the Queen of Daxam, “We need to alert the Kryptonian Military, I wouldn’t put it past her to escalate the situation and I want someone to inform the Prince of Daxam that he is to leave Krypton right away, forcefully if necessary. It already makes me uncomfortable to have the Daxamite Royal around here.”

Zor-El nodded. Krypton and Daxam have always been at odds, despite being sister planets. “You are right, I’ll get someone to deliver the message to the Prince. Why don’t you brief Astra of the situation?” 

Alura nodded, she knew exactly where to find her twin sister. 

♜

Astra frowned as she power-walked through the Science Guild Headquarters. The news from her sister had been worrying. She wouldn't put it past the Daxamites to do something underhanded because they felt the Kryptonians were at fault over something stupid they concocted in their paranoid brains. She reached the lab pretty quickly and was happy to see Alex. She smiled. Alex, as she had thought before, was an excellent match for Kara and she was happy that the MatriComp had seen that too. 

"General Astra, what brings you here?" asked Alex curiously as she saw the General walk through the automated doors. They didn't have any testing of any sorts scheduled today.

"I believe it is ok for you to call me just Astra when it's just us now, Alex," smiled Astra. After all, the scientist was going to be her ‘daughter-in-law’, since she considered Kara as her own child. 

Alex blushed, it was a bit weird but if the older woman wanted her to do that, she wouldn't refuse, "Astra, how may I help you?"

"There are some tensions rising with Daxam due to the younger prince staying around here. He is known to be a party animal so it wasn't much of a big deal that he was around due to Kara's Ascendance and Coronation and even your engagement but he's staying around." Astra frowned at that. She didn't trust any Daxamite, much less a Royal, "I'm not sure why he is here but I intend to find out and send him back. The Queen of Daxam believes we are holding him forcibly."

Alex's brows furrowed at that. She knew from being here for just over two years that the relationship between Krypton and Daxam was really bad, "That doesn't sound good."

"Indeed, it's all bad news. Daxam is bad news in itself. I would like you to make sure we have our weapons as soon as possible, in case it comes to that."

Alex nodded, "Will do, Astra. We should be nearly done. Just a week or two."

"I have also a personal request for you, Alex," Astra dropped her General tone, going to a softer tone.

Alex looked at Kara's aunt curiously, she had only heard Astra employ such a tone with Kara, her "little one". She nodded, waiting for the General to continue.

"Now that you are betrothed to Kara, you are going to be around her a lot. Please keep an eye on Kara. I don't trust the Daxamites and with Kara being the Crown Princess, she might be the prime target to the nefarious plans the Daxamites might have."

Alex grew worried as she heard Astra words. Kara being in danger is something she couldn't stomach. Looking seriously at the General, she vowed, "I will protect her with everything I am, Astra."

Astra nodded, grateful. She could see that Alex meant her promise, "I will get you the clearance to carry a weapon. Keep it with you at all times," and with that, she walked away, leaving the lab. 

Alex walked to her desk and sank into her chair. She knew that being betrothed to Kara, Krypton’s darling princess was never going to be an easy ride. The monarchy issues, the politics, the people, the hostility of some. She knew that there were many responsibilities on their shoulders and she didn't mind it as long as she was with Kara but this? This scared her, not for herself but for Kara. In the eyes of Krypton and probably even Daxam, she was insignificant but Kara... Kara was the Crown Princess and if anyone wanted to hurt Krypton and its people, hurt the monarchy, Kara was the prime target, just like Astra thought. Alex's jaws tightened at the thought,  _ They will have to go through me first. _

♜

Kara disguised herself as she went to meet Mon-El. She wondered why she never thought of this before. It was only after Alex took her festival disguised as a civilian that she realised she could meet Mon-El more easily if she just changed. She felt a bit stupid to not have thought of it. She guessed being a Princess since birth had made her oblivious to what it was like being just a civilian, a ‘nobody’ in the grand scheme of things, able to get lost in crowds. 

Arriving at the hotel, she easily got to the Prince's room. Knocking, she heard his voice ask whoever was knocking to enter, so she walked in.

"Who are you?" asked Mon-El with a frown as he watched the stranger walk into his suite, the door closing behind. 

Kara pulled her hood off and smiled, "It's me."

"Kara?" Mon-El got up from his armchair, "What are you wearing," he frowned distastefully at the drab clothing. 

"It's a disguise so I could come to see you, I need to talk to you," she replied, approaching him.

"You could just have called me. I would have met you in the gardens as usual. At least, I wouldn't have to see you in such abhorrent clothing,” his voice clearly communicating his distaste.

Kara frowned, "I'm not here to talk about clothing. Alex gave me this," she showed the diamond ring on her finger.

"And?" asked Mon-El perplexed, "I care little about jewellery, Kara. It's a women thing. I care much less for such a cheap red rock." 

"It's a custom on Earth to give an engagement ring to the betrothed instead of a bonding bracelet. Alex actually gave it to me, Mon-El... saying that she loves me. She genuinely loves me and wants to marry me. This charade has to stop or she'll end up getting really hurt." She hissed, wanting him to understand the gravity of the situation. 

"Now Kara, I care little about what the human feels. We cannot take these steps drastically, there are consequences. Plus, I might have to go back to Daxam for a bit," he replied.

"You are leaving?!" said Kara, shocked. 

"Yes, Mother is making a fuss about me being here for too long. I cannot let her get any inkling of us dating so I'll have to go back to calm her down for a little bit." Mon-El replied, quite annoyed at his mother. 

"But… but how long? What about us? What do I say to Alex? This has to stop!" she argued. 

"No! You will not say anything to the human, you hear me?" growled Mon-El, approaching the princess and holding her shoulders, "If you do, everyone will find out. Your parents might ban me forever from entering Krypton and my parents will never allow me to leave Daxam again. I will be stuck there and you here. We cannot take such risks, Kara! There is a lot at stake!"

Kara looked at the prince, baffled, "How long? How long will this go on? How long are you going for?"

"Probably for a few months at least," replied the Daxamite Prince, "Mother will not let me out of her sight for a while."

"Months?!" screeched Kara, "This engagement might be a sham, Mon-El but Alex has real feelings. She is my friend, I cannot hurt her like this!" 

"Well, you don't have a choice, Kara," replied Mon-El angrily, not sure why this human was such a big deal, he was the boyfriend, he was the Prince!, "It's me you should care about more!"

Kara quieted down, she hadn't come here to fight and when she thought about it, maybe what Mon-El was saying was true. That her parents will lock him out of Krypton and his parents will lock him in Daxam and Kara's heart hurt at the thought. Why did all things have to be so complicated? She just wanted to be with him. "Ok..." she replied quietly, "when are you leaving?"

"In a few hours, Mother doesn't like to be kept waiting," Mon-El replied. 

Kara leaned against his chest, feeling his strong arms wrap around her, "I wish you didn't have to go, that you could just stay here… with me," she whispered. 

Mon-El grabbed her chin, lifting her face and captured her lips hungrily, "I wish so too but I have to go. Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it and we'll end this thing with the human and you'll finally be engaged with me," he grinned. 

Kara nodded, feeling guilt eat at her stomach. All of this wasn't fair to Alex, it wasn't right. 

"Just make sure you don't do anything with this Alex," frowned Mon-El, "Now that she has feelings for you, I don't trust her. You wouldn't sleep with me, I don't want to hear she touched you!" he spat with disgust at the thought. He hated others taking what was his. He was a Prince, he hadn't learned to share. 

Kara pushed him away, angry, "I didn't sleep with you because no matter how Daxam does things, this is Krypton and our bodies are to be shared with our bondmate only, after the bonding ceremony. It has nothing to do with you or Alex or anyone for the matter!"

Mon-El rolled his eyes, "This would be so much easier if you just let me bed you, but have it your way." he said as he gathered his things through the room. It's ok, he could be patient. He was going to have her tied to his bed for days once this was all done. "I have to prepare before I go. See you soon," he said, giving her a bruising kiss before exiting the room. 

Kara frowned. Despite her love for him, she deeply wished he hadn't been born on the barbaric planet of Daxam. 

♜

  
  


Alex eyed the Phaser pistol she had been allocated. It was a powerful weapon and she was quite a good shot with her experience making and testing them. It was the first time though that she was allowed to carry one but before that, she had to show that she could handle it. Astra had her scheduled for gun safety and shooting tests and she passed easily, just like she expected, she made guns, after all. She wore it concealed in an under-arm holster in her jacket. 

She wasn't a fool though. Just having a gun wasn't going to be the only thing needed to protect Kara. Despite being fit, she knew she wasn't up to the level of a guard and despite knowing a bit of combat, from self-defence and karate classes when she was on Earth, it wasn't going to be enough. This was why she was on her way to the Military Guild at this very moment, hoping to speak to General Astra. Asking the guards, she got the information that the woman was in the training barracks. She found the place in a matter of minutes as the layout of the building was very precise, just like the Kryptonian Army was known to be. 

“General Astra, can I speak with you?” asked Alex as she walked into the training facility, finding the General overseeing combat training. 

“Alex, what brings you here?” said Astra, turning away from the cadets she had been training to greet her niece’s fiancee. “Come, let’s go talk in my office,” she said, pulling the Inventor into her office. Gesturing for the woman to take a seat, she slipped into her own chair and waited.

“I was wondering if I could join the military?” asked Alex.

“What?” Astra was shocked, “why would you want that? I thought you were happy in the Science Guild.”

“I am but I’m just wondering if I could do both. I’ve been thinking about it. I have helped create a lot of new technology for the military so I'm quite familiar with them and like you said Astra, there is political unrest happening between us and our neighbouring planet. Kara is probably the prime target as she will be Queen one day. As her betrothed, I will be by her side and I just want to be prepared and able to protect her. Just a gun is not going to be enough,” replied Alex. 

Astra looked at the brunette with pride, “You are indeed the perfect match to my Kara, Alex. You will make a fine Queen beside her.” she replied.

Alex blushed at the compliment and replied, “I just want to love and protect her, Astra. I want to be worthy of her. So please, can I join the Military Guild?”

“Yes, you can. Why don’t we decide a schedule so we can split your work here and in the Science Guild?” replied Astra, already pulling up a holo-file on her screen to fill in. 

“Thank you, Astra. Oh, and can you not tell anyone, especially Kara until I am well-trained?” she asked.

“Sure” replied Astra, smiling at the brunette. 

Alex smiled and with that, the two women went to work to figure out a way to make it all happen. 

♜

Kara huffed as she threw herself on her bed. She was bored and quite annoyed. Her parents were busy with their duties. Aunt Astra was busy with the Military Guild. Mon-El was gone, back to Daxam and Alex, was busy, not having time for her at all. It wasn't like the brunette to not have time for her. The only time that happened was when Alex had fallen sick. This time, she wasn't sick. Kara knew that because she had even dropped by the labs to see her but the brunette had looked tiredly and apologetically at her, spending barely five minutes to talk to her before her comms had beeped. Alex had apologised, saying she had to go and limped off. Kara frowned, she was still wondering why the brunette had limped off, she hadn't had a chance to ask. Maybe they had been an accident at the labs and the scientist hadn't told her? But she had explicitly told the Med Bay to alert her if Alex was ever sick or hurt and she had heard nothing from them so it must be something different. 

She could ask Lena or Winn, she thought as she rolled onto her back but it felt wrong. She couldn't just go to Alex's friends every time she wanted to know something about the brunette. She wished the brunette would just tell her. They were friends! Maybe she had to make the first step. After all, every plan, every movie night, every date had been organised by the scientist so maybe she needed to take the initiative this time. It was a bit weird, she had never done this before. Why was it so complicated to just spend time with a friend? Deciding to go for it, she picked her comms and dialled Alex, hoping the woman would pick up

A holographic image of Alex's face popped up, looking tired and sweaty, "Kara! What's up?" asked Alex, panting slightly.

"Are you ok, Alex?" asked Kara, sitting up, looking at the brunette with a frown.

"Yeah yeah, I left my comms in another room and had to run to get to it when you called," replied Alex, laughing nervously. She had just finished a gruelling sparring session and had another training session with Astra later tonight.

"I called because I was wondering if you would be interested to come and see my paintings?" Kara asked, surprised at herself, only her parents and Aunt have ever seen her paintings. She hadn't even shown them to Mon-El. 

"Really?" asked Alex, surprised. From the few times they had talked about Kara's hobby, it had seemed that the blonde was quite protective and secretive about her art.

"Yeah!" replied Kara, coming to terms with the idea and actually looking forward to it, "What about tonight, at 6 pm? I'll have the kitchen prepare us dinner as well?"

Alex frowned, she had training with Astra tonight but seeing the hopeful look in Kara's blue eyes, she knew she couldn't refuse. She hoped that the General would be ok with rescheduling, after all, it was for her niece, "Sure, I'll see you then," replied Alex. 

Kara grinned, "I can't wait. I'll see you then!" 

"See you tonight," smiled Alex, watching as Kara disconnected the call. She quickly dialled Astra.

"Alex?" the General asked, as her hologram popped up, "is something the matter? We are meeting later tonight?" 

"About that, I apologise but can we reschedule? Kara has invited me for dinner and to see her art and I couldn’t say no," replied Alex, sheepishly.

Astra was pleasantly surprised. Her niece didn't like to show her art so an invite to Alex was a big step. "I understand, Alex. I will reschedule and send you the details," she replied, smiling. She herself couldn't say no to her niece's puppy eyes so she understood Alex. 

"Thank you, Astra" replied Alex, sighing in relief, saying bye to the General as she disconnected the call.

"Hmm, what do I wear now?" she wondered, grinning. She was quite excited about this. Kara invited her on a date! It was a step forward!

♜♜♜

  
  



	7. Experiences Together

Alex arrived at the El Tower just in time. She had managed to settle on a maroon silky shirt and khaki pants. Casual this time. She found Kara waiting for her at the entrance.

"Kara, you look beautiful," complimented Alex, happy to see the blonde in another sunny Earth dress, sleeveless in baby blue colour, ending just at her knees. 

"Thank you, Alex," replied Kara, blushing, never used to Alex's compliments. "You look great as well," she said, taking the brunette's hand, "Come on, dinner has been set up in the studio and I'm starving!" 

Alex laughed, loving the predictability of the blonde’s stomach and allowed herself to be dragged to wherever the studio was. It was on a different floor and Alex was quite surprised to see how spacious it was. Interestingly, all paintings on the walls and propped up on easels were covered with white pieces of cloth. 

Kara read the question in the brunette's eyes, "We'll have a look at the paintings during dinner. I'll reveal each one by one," she replied, pulling the brunette towards the table that had been set up in the middle of the space, covered with a white tablecloth and a light crystal in the middle. It was completely laden with different kinds of foods and drinks.

Alex grinned, "What a spread! Though, I feel it's much more for you than me," she teased. 

Kara laughed, flushing just slightly, feeling at ease with Alex teasing her eating habits now, "That might be true," she replied, unashamed, "though I did get it for you as well. I'm not sure you've tried them all before." She was kind of excited to have Alex try new things after the brunette had been doing the same with her with the Earth foods. 

"It'll be interesting," Alex replied, eyeing a few unknown dishes as she took her seat. 

"So, how have you been? I haven't seen you for a while," asked Kara, looking pointedly at the scientist. 

Alex returned an apologetic gaze, "I'm good, been busy. We have been pushed to finish certain projects as soon as possible." It wasn’t a lie, Astra did ask her to get the weapons ready. 

"Anything I should worry about?" asked Kara, knowing a few of Alex's projects were of military nature. She started dishing out some food on her plate and poured two glasses of Almarin juice, handing one to Alex 

"Nah, just the higher-ups getting impatient," replied Alex, not wanting to worry the blonde. She took a tentative sip at the juice, not recognising it. It tasted a bit like a mix of apple and oranges, maybe even a little bit of lemon.

Kara watched in interest as Alex took a second more confident sip at the juice. She now realised why Alex watched her when she ate, it was fascinating to see Alex's expressions as she gauged the tastes of unfamiliar foods, "How do you find it?" she asked curiously. 

"Hmm, it's nice. It tastes like a medley of apples and oranges with a hint of lemon," Alex replied, stating her previous observation.

"I don't know any of those," replied Kara chuckling, "It's Almarin juice."

"Ah, I've heard of Almarin, blue oval-shaped fruit. Had never tasted one before though. As for the names I just said, they are Earthly fruits. I'll get you to try some if we ever get a shipment or we go to visit Earth."

Kara nodded, "Have you ever had Kiftek?" she asked, pointing at a plate of grilled meat.

"No, what kind of meat is it?" asked Alex, looking at the green looking meat. 

"It's made from Atfikah, the lizards found in the desserts," replied Kara, watching as Alex cut a small piece and popped it in her mouth, chewing tentatively. 

"Hmm, it's not bad," replied Alex, finding it weird that it tasted like fish. She took a bigger piece to get a better taste. 

"Does it taste like anything from your home?" asked Kara. It was really interesting to learn about Earth. She wondered why she never had these kinds of conversations with Mon-El to get a view of Daxam, other than their barbaric practices and the intoxicating beverages he craved all the time. They had never talked about the plants, the food, the technology... 

"I would say it comes quite close to white fish, though not exactly. There is an aftertaste to it that I cannot place," replied Alex, thinking deeply. 

"What's a white fish?" asked Kara, curious. Despite knowing English, having learnt it from the Kryptonian Archives, there were a lot of words she didn't know anything about. 

"When I say white, I mean the flesh is white. A fish is an aquatic animal, living in bodies of water, such as seas, rivers and lakes," replied Alex, taking out her comms and pulling holographic images of fishes, "they vary a lot in shape, size and colour. They are a lot of different kinds." 

Kara watched the image of the odd animal, “I still can’t wrap my head over the fact that your oceans are not toxic,” she replied. There was nothing living in the toxic waters of Krypton’s seas. 

Dinner went well, with Alex trying a few more things, most she liked and few that she didn’t much to Kara’s amusement. The scrunched face the brunette made when she tasted those foods had been really funny. Now, they were just sipping on their drinks, taking a break before moving to dessert.

“So the paintings?” Alex motioned her head to the cloth-covered canvas and frames. 

“Oh yeah, come,” replied Kara, getting up from her seat and moving to the first painting she wanted to show Alex. She had kinda arranged them so she could show them to the brunette in a certain order. She pulled the cloth off the painting and waited for Alex's reaction. 

"It’s beautiful, Kara,” said Alex as she carefully observed the bold colours that Kara had used to paint the Kryptonian landscape. 

“You really think so?” asked Kara shyly, fidgeting on the spot.

“Yes, please show me more,” replied Alex, really wanting to see more of the blonde’s art.

So they went around, Kara unveiling each painting one by one to Alex's eyes. “It's really beautiful. I love how you have managed to paint the sheen on the purple grass at sunset. I didn't even know paint could replicate that colour.” said Alex, leaning forward to observe the colour from a closer vantage.

Kara smiled proudly, “It is done through multiple layering to give that illusion,” she replied.

“It’s magnificent, I have never seen anything quite like it,” replied Alex earnestly, turning to give Kara a look of admiration.

“Thank you,” replied Kara, blushing hotly, not knowing what more to say. Her stomach grumbling added more colour to her cheeks.

Alex chuckled and cocked an eyebrow at the blonde, “time for dessert, I guess?” 

They said themselves back at the table and Kara pulled the dessert out of a basket. 

“I've brought some of my favourites for you to try. Have you had Urviishm or Talbuk before?” asked the princess.

“Not, I haven't really been adventurous with Kryptonian food since I came here. Kinda stuck to what I know,” replied Alex, shrugging.

“Well, you've got to try it. Urviishm is like a jam, made of Urvs berries. Talbuk is a sweet pastry dough filled with cream. They really go well together.” said Kara as she spread the jam on to her pastry.

Alex copied the blonde's actions and bit into the pastry, moaning in approval at the taste. It was definitely a good combination.

Kara grinned, happy that the brunette was enjoying her recommendations. The night was turning into a success and it definitely felt good to spend time with her friend again. She felt a slight guilt pang as she remembered Alex’s real feelings for her but pushed the thought to the back of her mind. It would do her no good to think about it right now, not with Mon-El still without a plan as of yet. 

“Winn, Lena and I are having another movie night tomorrow night, you want to come?” asked Alex, brushing the pastry crumbs off her fingers onto her plate. 

“Yes!” replied Kara, excited. She had definitely enjoyed the Harry Potter movie series last time, “what are we watching?” she asked.

Alex shrugged, “last time was an anomaly because it was your first time so we chose something for you then we went and watched the full series in multiple sittings. This time it’s Lena’s turn to choose. So I’m guessing Disney.”

“What’s Disney?” asked Kara, having absolutely no clue. 

“It’s a company that makes cartoons, animations,” explained Alex, “so instead of people acting the story, it’s drawings, images used to portray it. Like a painting, except it’s made to look like it’s moving.” 

Kara’s eyes lit up. She could understand art and paintings! She was excited to see how it all worked. 

“Just a heads up, cartoons tend to be musicals so there are songs and Winn and Lena are definitely going to sing along,” said Alex, rolling her eyes at the usual antics of her friends. 

“Oh, I love songs too. I sing… sometimes,” replied Kara, surprising the brunette, “though I do not know Earth songs.” 

“Oh wow, I didn’t know that you liked singing,” replied Alex. 

“Yeah, I don’t do it much, it’s a private thing,” replied Kara nervously. 

“Well, with the two of them, it’s not as much of a private thing. At home, it’s definitely all out. Don’t worry, you don’t have to sing with them,” said Alex, trying to put the blonde at ease. 

“Ok,” replied Kara, sighing in relief. 

“So it’s all set then. I’ll see you tomorrow night,” smiled Alex, happy to be getting the chance to spend time with the blonde after not having had the chance due to work and training. 

“Can I bring some food this time?” she asked.

“Oh there is no obligation for you to bring anything but yourself, Kara but if you do want to, the others will definitely love more food,” she replied, chuckling. Her friends did love food, though not as much as the blonde.

“I want to,” replied Kara, smiling, already thinking about Kryptonian snacks that would be appropriate for a movie night. 

♜

Alex groaned as she quickly slipped in her shower stall. She had a long day at work today and on top of that, had a quick training session with Astra to catch on what she missed yesterday. She had thought that the General had been ok with her rescheduling but with the way her body was screaming right now, she wasn’t so sure. She took a quick shower, not wanting to be late and miss Kara’s arrival to the house, though a long hot shower sounded heavenly to her sore muscles. She quickly dried herself and slipped into a different pair of sweats and hoodie compared to last time. Exiting the room, she shuffled down the stairs where her friends were getting the food, drinks and snacks prepared. 

“Hello you, how are you feeling?” asked Lena, a bit worried. She knew that training had been brutal. 

“I’ll live,” replied Alex, shrugging. She had told her best friends about her enlisting to the Military Guild and they had understood her reasons and been supportive. They were the only people that knew, together with Astra and a few people in the Guild. 

“I gotta say, what you are doing is pretty badass!” exclaimed Winn, gushing “I mean, you get to carry a Phaser!” 

Alex smiled. A knock sounded through the room and Alex went to get the door, revealing a comfy looking Kara wearing a sweater and black slacks. “Hey you, come on in.”

“I brought some food,” replied Kara, showing the basket in her hand. 

“Here, let me get that for you,” replied Alex, taking the basket off the blonde’s hand. “Kara brought us some food, guys,” she said as she walked back to the living room, passing the basket to Lena, who started arranging the spread onto their coffee table. 

“So what are we watching, Luthor?” asked Winn, eyeing the green-eyed brunette expectantly. 

“Mulan, cause watching women in training is awesome!” she replied as she settled the fresh-out-of-the-oven pizzas on the table as well and slid into her spot on the couch.

“Sick choice, Luthor!” replied Winn, launching the video file. 

Kara watched in fascination as the movie was in vividly coloured images, nothing resembling real life. It reminded of the caricatures Kryptonian drew as kids but it was more well-drawn than that. Though as she watched more, she wondered if it was a story about Daxam because what they were expecting from the girl was definitely Daxamite thinking. 

Alex kinda sensed the blonde’s confusion and explained, “the story was set during the Chinese Dynasty. Women didn’t have many rights back then, they still don’t in some parts of Earth. This movie is loosely based on a real story,” the brunette explained, feeling kinda ashamed of her planet in that sense. 

Kara nodded, understanding. She had read of a lot of planets like that and even Krypton’s own history had times like that though thank Rao, they evolved from it. She kept watching though, it was riveting. Oh no! Things are going wrong, though that woman with her ink beard and moustache made her laugh. 

As they got further into the movie, Kara was a bit startled when she suddenly heard Lena and Winn start hollering **“Why is my reflection….Someone I don't know?** ”

Alex leant and whispered into the blonde’s ear, “I told you this would happen,” she said as she shook her head at her crazy friends. 

Kara just giggled, not minding it at all. Their voices were really good actually, it was just their antics with Lena kneeling on the sofa with one foot on the armrest, singing to the ceiling while Winn was swaying his arms in the background that was making it absolutely comical. She was really enjoying this. 

Alex smiled adoringly at the beautiful smile on Kara’s face. It never got old, always finding herself in awe, no matter how many times she saw it. She was barely watching the movie. Kara’s childlike fascination with the cartoon was too beautiful to miss. The smiling face, shining eyes, and giggles. Kara was too beautiful. 

♜

**“Let's get down to business, to defeat the Huns,”** sang Lena seriously, squaring her shoulders.

**“Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?”** Winn added, flexing his non-existent muscles.

“Come on, Alex, sing with me!” crooned Lena, grinning at the brunette who was too transfixed at her fiance. 

“No, no, no, nope Luthor. Your puppy eyes will not work on me. Yours neither, Winn!” she grumbled, turning her attention back to Kara only to find her staring in another set of curious puppy eyes, “Agh… Fine….” she gritted her teeth, huffing before joining in. 

**Tranquil as a forest but on fire within**

**Once you find your centre, you are sure to win**

**You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot**

**And you haven't got a clue**

**Somehow I'll make a man out of you**

Kara watched in fascination as the trio’s voices melded together like they have sung multiple times together, which they probably had. Alex’s voice was beautiful, she remarked. She giggled as they all made their voices deeper at ever ‘Be a man’ line.

Winn - **“Be a man,”** he sang as he marched on the spot. 

Alex and Lena - **“We must be swift as the coursing river,”** making wave motions with their arms.

Winn - **“Be a man”**

Alex and Lena - **“With all the force of a great typhoon,”** Kara laughed as the two women lifted their hands up and spun around. 

Winn - **“Be a man”**

Alex and Lena - **“With all the strength of a raging...** (Winn: **Hwaa!** ) **... fire.”**

Winn - **Hwaa!** He shouted the war cry, jumping in the air. 

Alex and Lena - **“Mysterious as the dark side of the moooooooooon,”** Alex holding the note till the very end. 

Alex, Winn and Lena: **“Hwwwwwhaaa!”** all three shouted, ending their song in a makeshift martial art fight stance. 

Kara laughed like she had never laughed before, chortling and choking at the stupid antics of the three, so much she had tears in her eyes. She had never behaved so undignified as a princess but she couldn’t stop herself, she felt free… for maybe the first time in her life. She watched as the three joined her in laughter and Alex sat back next to her and gathered her gently in her arms. She could feel the brunette’s body shake as she laughed with her and for some reason, Kara felt safe. That’s how they stayed until the end of the movie. 

“So you enjoyed this one?” asked Alex, not making any effort to move. She was totally enjoying having the blonde in her arms, leaning against her shoulder. 

“Yes, totally. It was an amazing and inspiring story,” replied, not even noticing she was burrowing deeper into Alex’s warm body. 

“Yay! That means we have another one in the gang who likes musicals and Disney!” shouted Lena, clapping her hands in glee. Alex glared at the woman. Winn just shrugged. While he was known to love his action and superhero movies, he actually liked songs and Disney. 

“What will I do with all of you?” huffed Alex, mock-glaring at all of them. 

“You love us and you know it!” said Lena as she pulled a tongue at the brunette, “and we know how to get you to sing,” she said wiggling her eyebrows. 

“Using puppy eyes is so not fair!” whined Alex, “all three of you!” 

“We have a weapon and we know how to use it!” grinned Winn, making pistols shapes with his fingers, “Pew pew!”. 

“I know ten different ways to put you in a world of pain with just my index finger, Schott! Don’t make me put it to use!” Alex growled, smirking as the man hurriedly shrunk back behind Lena. 

“Be nice,” murmured Kara, feeling so comfy, warm and sleepy as she watched the bickering three adoringly. 

“Yeah! Be nice!” Winn squeaked from behind Lena.

“Hey...you’re falling asleep on me?” whispered Alex, watching as her friends started gathering their rubbish, giving her a bit of privacy with Kara. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realise. It’s late. I must go,” she said, reluctantly pulling away only to feel the brunette’s arm tighten around her, keeping her there. 

“It’s ok, I was just teasing. I’ll drop you to the vessel,” Alex replied, not really wanting their time to end. 

Kara nodded, and they stayed like that for a few minutes before Alex reluctantly let go of the blonde. A few quick taps to her comms alerted her pilot to come pick her up in front of the house. Kara said quick goodbyes to Winn and Lena who hugged her enthusiastically and thanked her for the food she brought. Alex took the blonde’s hand and they exited the house, walking hand in hand. 

“You had a good night?” asked Alex, walking slowly to prolong their time together despite Kara’s pilot already parked at the end of the driveway. She had missed the blonde badly in the last week, having had no time to spend with her, not even much for calls and every time she had decided to call her as soon as she got back home, she had crashed on her bed in exhaustion as soon as she walked into her room. 

“Yes, I enjoy spending time with you and your friends,” replied Kara truthfully. She was feeling a bit guilty for enjoying the hand-holding as well. She so desperately wanted to just enjoy the friendship with Alex, without the guilt of feeling like she was fooling the woman. She hadn’t had friends before and she was so loving this experience. She wondered how much better it would be if she was betrothed with Mon-El and Alex was her friend and happy for her. She would have both her boyfriend and best friend, it would be a dream come true. 

“I’m sorry for not having been around the last few days,” replied Alex, feeling bad about it. 

“It’s ok, I understand you were busy…” replied Kara. Truly, she understood it. After all, it wasn’t like she didn’t know what it was like to be busy. With her paintings, leadership training for Krypton, shadowing her parents in some of their meetings and negotiations, she was busy herself. Yet, she felt like now that she had had a taste of what friendship was like, how much fun and enjoyable it was, she couldn’t go without it. She would make time for Alex, but she also knew it was a lot more difficult for Alex to do the same, after all, she was an employee in the Science Guild labs while Kara was a princess. There were definitely perks to being a princess.

They reached the vessel and Alex lifted Kara’s left hand and pressed a gentle kiss on her engagement ring, before pulling the blonde closer and pressing a kiss on the blonde’s cheek, “Goodnight, Kara.” 

“Goodnight, Alex,” replied Kara, feeling a tingling in her stomach. It was probably just the weirdness of the kisses from her best friend who had feelings for her and who she was lying to. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she pulled her hand from Alex’s and gave her a small wave before disappearing into the flying ship. 

  
  
  
  



	8. Time With You

It had been three months since Mon-El left Krypton and despite sending multiple messages to him and trying to call him, Kara hadn’t managed to establish any connection.

"Kara" 

Kara turned to the voice calling out for her, "Mom? What brings you here? Dad?" she said, turning to her father walking beside her mother. They were supposed to be in a meeting with the High-Council.

"We have excellent news, your mother and I," smiled Zor-El, looking on as his wife hugged their only daughter. 

Kara returned her mother's hug and hugged her father as well, smiling, "What is it?"

"We, together with the High-Council, have decided that your bonding ceremony would be held a year from now, on the day of Rao's Blessing," replied Alura, cupping her daughter's cheek and looking at her with pride. 

"So soon?" asked Kara surprised, feeling dread fill her chest. 

"It's not that soon," replied Alura, knowing how it felt to have bonding jitters, "A year is a long way away."

"Plus we are not getting any younger," grinned Zor-El, "soon you'll be Queen and I can finally take my retirement with your mother," he winked at his wife, "We would like Alex to be by your side when you do so."

"There's still time for that!" gasped Kara. Sure, they could bestow her the throne and 'retire' now that she's gone through her Ascendence but never before had it been done so early. 

Zor-El pulled his only daughter into his arms and kissed her forehead, "I'm joking!" he belly-laughed, "we wouldn't throw you to the  deep end just yet!"

Alura looked at her favourite people with adoration. She looked into Kara's bright blue eyes and said, "but you were a bit of a late baby so one day soon, you'll be up there on that throne and it’s a lot easier with someone beside you. Life was a lot easier with your father there."

Zor-El laughed, "yup, she was too serious, Judiciary Guild people I guess" he mock-whispered into Kara's ear, earning a playful glare from his wife. 

"And how exactly did you become a jokester from the Science Guild?" Alura asked with a glare. 

"No idea," he grinned, "but Science Guild people do make life easier, which is why I am excited for you, Kara. Alex is a perfect mate for you. I mean 98.7%? You've both been an overachiever on every front!"

Kara looked at her parents, seeing the love and pride they have for her in their eyes and wished that despite whatever was about to come, they would still look at her the same.  _ Mon-El, hurry... _

♜

"You have to tell me where you get all those wounds," said Kara worriedly, looking at the cuts and bruises on the brunette's forearm. Alex was wearing a short-sleeved shirt as the weather warmed up and the marked skin was in full display. 

Alex shrugged, taking a sip of her juice. They were currently out for dinner at a quaint little restaurant in the Third District that she had discovered. It had the Kryptonian equivalent of fast food and Alex loved it, happy to clog her arteries once in a while and knowing Kara's love for food, it was a no-brainer to bring the blonde here. "I'm a scientist who works with weapons and experiments of all kinds, accidents tend to happen." 

Kara frowned, "That doesn't sound safe. Aren't there protocols for that?" she asked before taking a huge bite at her greasy sandwich. She moaned, it tasted so good!

Alex smiled at the blonde, adoring her even more for caring about her, "don't worry, Kara. It's all under the correct protocol. The risk is low," she replied. She kinda hated not telling the blonde that she was training for the Military Guild but she didn't want to tell her in case she failed. It would be super embarrassing so she kept it to herself and her friends for now. She hadn't even told her parents, deciding to do so only after she successfully graduated from her training. There wasn't much left, one more week and if she passed the final tests, she would be officially instated into the Military Guild. 

"If you say so," mumbled Kara into her food, not happy about the response. 

Alex grinned at the princess' adorable antics. "So… you know, we've played 20 questions but most of it has been about us. Tell me about your parents, what are they like?"

"What do you want to know?" asked Kara, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"What are they like? What's your mother's favourite flower? What's your dad's favourite… thing?"

Kara smiled, swallowing her mouthful as she contemplated the questions, "They are amazing and loving, have always been. They love each other and dad is the jokester to mom's seriousness. My mom's favourite flower is the Dar-Essa. Dad's favourite thing has to be fixing pods of all kinds, he has quite a collection."

Alex's brows furrowed at the longing in the blonde's voice, "why do you sound like they aren't here?" She watched as the blonde's blue eyes turned sad.

"They are the monarchs, they tend to be busy… Not always but most of the time," Kara whispered, staring into her plate. 

Alex reached over the table and took the blonde's hands in hers. She waited for Kara to meet her eyes before saying seriously, "I understand. I want to make a promise to you, Kara, right now. I'll never be too busy for you, you have me. Just reach out when you need me, ok?"

Kara's eyes misted over at the promise the brunette made and squeezed Alex's hands in thanks. The brunette was starting to become such an integral part of her life, she couldn't imagine her not in it. She didn't want to… she wouldn't know what to do without her… she hoped she didn't have to. She didn’t want to lose her with the Mon-El issue...  _ Please, Rao… _

♜

Alex tried to regulate her breathing and focus on her opponent. She was facing Major J'onn as her last test while General Astra watched with eagle-eyes. She was sweaty, her shirt sticking to her skin as they have been at it for a while. She quickly ducked a swipe from the Martian and countered with a high kick which J'onn evaded in the nick of time. She readied herself as J'onn charged at her and she grabbed his shoulders, flinging herself in the air over him, landing behind his back and followed the move with a low leg swipe, kicking his legs from under him, knocking him on the floor. She didn't wait for him to get up, quickly spinning and digging her knee into his back, grinning as he tapped out. 

Clapping pulled her attention away and she looked up to find Astra clapping at her while the other cadets looked at her with their mouth open, in complete awe. It took them a few seconds to come out of the stupor before they joined the General and clapped. 

J'onn got up as Alex got off him and shook the brunette's hand, "Well done, we have finished with your training, Alex,” said J’onn with a smile, “tomorrow evening, we can formally welcome into the Military Guild in an official capacity." 

Alex grinned at the news, it’s what she had been waiting for. She had trained so hard for this and to be honest, she had learnt a lot. She felt sharper, stronger, faster and she’d definitely keep training harder to always keep herself in shape to be able to protect Kara. 

♜

It was nothing grand, not a big ceremony. After all, she was just finally earning the right to be there, not an award or anything but to Alex, it was big. She looked at Winn, Lena and her parents there for her. She hadn't really said anything to Kara yet, for fear it would bring a lot of questions. After all, this was all for her, to protect her. She would tell her some other time, maybe after they had dealt with the Daxamite issues. 

She looked down at herself, dressed in all black. Nothing like the fancy flowing robes that most other Guilds wore. Instead, it was tight formal pants, shirt and vest, all in black as were the colours of the Military Guild. Alex liked it better than the greys of the Science Guilds, she had always liked black... The House of El sigil for the King and Queen proudly displayed on her sleeve. She watched as the door opened and they were all ushered into a new room with a lot of the cadets standing on the side and Astra and J'onn in the front.

"Alex, step forward," said Astra, smiling genuinely at the brunette.

Alex gave a quick look at her family who were looking at her with pride, before walking towards the General. 

"Today is your graduation day, Alexandra Danvers. Not only have you entered the Military Guild, unlike any others, late and already having a Guild you are into, the Science Guild but you have also shown tremendous courage, bravery and dedication by being the first person to finish the program so fast and on such high marks," Astra said before turning to J'onn, who presented her with something. "I now officially bestow you the mark of an Officer. Welcome to the ranks, soldier," she said attaching the item she took from J'onn onto her uniform. 

Alex looked down and saw the shiny simple white insignia signifying her rank as Officer, and grinned, feeling quite proud of herself. 

"A soldier might have many types of guns to shoot at her enemy," said Major J'onn, "but being fully prepared for anything is what makes a soldier stay alive. You will be given your own set of combat uniform, knives and combat apparatus."

"But as a token for your loyalty and dedication to protect the Crown Princess as well as a gift to your betrothal with the Princess, I, General Astra In-Ze, offer you this."

Alex looked as Astra lifted what looked like a thin dagger to her, sheathed inside its scabbard, until Astra twisted the hilt and it extended into a full sword. Alex gently took it, lifting it into her hands and gently pulled out the blade, eyes wide in awe at the craftsmanship. The blade looked sharp and she could see her reflection in it, Kara and her modified El crest, engraved at the hilt.

"I… I have no words, General, thank you," replied Alex sincerely.

"Just promise to protect my niece with your life, Alex," whispered Astra seriously.

Alex's face grew serious as she looked at Astra, "I promise."

Astra smiled, "I have no doubts, Brave One."

♜

Kara smiled as she saw Alex walk through the El tower main doors, dressed in a crisp blue shirt, grey trousers and tie. Her parents were free for the night and had requested to have dinner with her and Alex. 

“Kara,” said Alex as she approached the gorgeous blonde, dressed in a flowing light blue dress. Blue was definitely the blonde’s colour. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you,” smiled Kara, “you clean up nicely,” she teased, recalling that the brunette had been covered in a light green goo last time she had dropped in the labs to see the trio. 

Alex rolled her eyes and mock-glared at the blonde but she had a smile on her face. It was lovely to see Kara get more comfortable and come out of her shell. Underneath the polite, kind and generous personality was a mischievous and joking woman. “Here, for you,” she said smoothly, pulling out a red rose from behind her back. 

Kara gasped at the beautiful flower and took it gently between her fingers, it was crystalised like the yellow rose Alex had given her before but it was still soft and fragile. She brought it to her nose, inhaling the beautiful scent. “Thank you,” she said, looking at Alex with a gentle smile. 

Alex smiled back and offered her hand for Kara to take, which the Princess did without hesitation. They walked to the dining room where the massive table was already set and Alura and Zor were already waiting for them. 

“Mom, Dad!” greeted Kara, hugging both tightly, it has been a few days since she last saw them. Alex greeted them as well, shaking Zor’s hand and allowing Alura to pull her into a hug. 

“Let’s sit down,” Alura said, taking a seat beside her husband. 

“It’s a pleasure to dine with you again, your majesties,” replied Alex as she pulled Kara’s chair, waiting for her to take a seat before slipping into the chair beside her. 

“Didn’t we tell you to call us just Alura and Zor?” asked Alura, smiling at the brunette. She really liked how much she was attentive to Kara

“Ah… I’ll try, Queen… Alura,” replied Alex, fiddling with her napkin nervously. “Ah, before I forget,” she said, pulling a large box from the bag she was carrying, she gave it to the Queen, “for you.” 

Alura looked surprised, before opening the box, pulling out a potted plant. She was awed to see it was a Dar-Essa but instead of light pink flowers, it had bright red ones. 

“It’s a hybrid Dar-Essa,” explained Alex, “I was studying the properties of the flower and some of those matched those of an Earth tree called Flame tree so I tried a hybrid and this is how it turned out.” 

“It’s beautiful,” replied Alura, looking at the small red flowers budding on the small shrub, “it’s like the red of Rao. Thank you, Alex.”

Alex blushed and smiled. Her blush increased when she saw Kara looking at her with adoration, touched by her action. 

Dinner went well, with the conversation flowing easily between them all. Alura and Alex talked more about plants and flowers and Alex realised that the beautiful El garden was mostly Alura’s work which impressed her to no end. She spoke with Zor as well and asked about his pod collection which turned the conversation into a nerdfest and Zor invited her to come check the vehicles out after dessert. 

“You have a Ducati?” asked Alex in glee as she crouched to look into the opened panel on the gleaming motorbike next to the pods in Zor’s garage/lab. They were now all following Zor as he gave them a tour of his lab, to show off his vehicles to Alex. Kara and Alura were trailing behind the two scientists, looking at them fondly. 

“Ah yes, it’s a shifting machine, turns into a spaceship. I’ve been trying to get it to work, I’ve worked out the spaceship side of things but I’m not very well versed in Earth technology, it’s quite different so the motorbike side of things is not working well.”

“I can help you if you want. I should be able to help, I had a bike during my time on Earth,” said Alex, ogling the vehicle, it was in good condition so she was sure it wouldn’t take much to fix.

“You have a deal. If you fix it, you can have it,” smiled Zor-El at his future daughter-in-law. He was quite pleased that the person matched to his daughter was a scientist just like him. More to tease his wife with. 

“Oh, no. I couldn’t!” replied Alex waving her hands, looking at Kara, who was surprised at her father’s words. He tended to be very protective and a hoarder with his toys. 

“Please, I insist. I’ll put your biometrics into the garage door so you should be able to come here anytime to have a look at it,” he replied and pulled the brunette forward, eager to show her even more of his ships.

♜

“Come on,” smiled Alex as she dragged Kara along through the streets of the city. 

“Where are you taking me?” asked Kara, laughing as she tried to keep up with the excited brunette. 

Alex didn’t reply as she shuffled expertly through the crowd. Both were dressed as commoners to blend in, as after the official engagement, Alex’s face was well recognisable to the general populace. They were even wearing image inducers (Alex nicked them from the lab), synced to each other. So they were the only ones who could actually see each other’s real faces. It only took a few minutes before they reached their destination. 

Kara looked at the sign on top of the building, “Dance Duo?” she asked, waiting for an explanation. Alex just grinned and pulled her into the building. 

They took the elevator to Floor 7. The elevator door opened to a full open wooden dance floor. Kara observed multiple ‘couples’ wrapped in each other, dancing to the slow music that was playing. 

“You must be Chy-Ler and Mel-Issa?” said one woman as she approached the pair. 

“Ah yes, we are, I’m Chyler and this is Melissa” replied Alex, going by their code-names, “You are the instructor, Alu-Taal?” 

“Indeed, we will start shortly. Please take a spot on the floor,” Alu-Taal instructed, before moving to the front of her class. 

“Is this why we dressed in these?” asked Kara as Alex dragged her to an empty spot. The brunette has insisted they dressed in clothing that doesn't obstruct movement. Obviously, Alex had gone for a simple shirt and slacks while Kara had picked a simple yellow sundress. “Why are we even having dancing classes? We danced just fine on the day of my Ascendance and our engagement.” Kara was perplexed.

Alex shrugged, “I know but there are more types of dancing. I mean, we have danced Kryptonian formal dances on those days which, by the way, I learnt here. Today, they are teaching Earth dances.”

Kara frowned, “and you don’t know them?” She wasn’t following. She hadn’t realised that the brunette hadn’t known their dances. She wouldn’t have guessed, after all, their dance at the engagement had been flawless. On the other hand, she knew nothing about Earth dances other than the little she had seen when the three friends sang and danced. 

“I do,” laughed Alex, “but you don’t.” 

Kara’s eyes widened, “and should I?”

“Well, it is customary for the married couple to have the first dance after an Earth wedding. I noticed that while Kryptonian engagement ceremonies have the couple open the dance floor, the bonding ceremonies don't.”

“Ah yes, there is a parade after the bonding ceremony. No dance,” Kara replied. 

“Indeed,” replied Alex, smiling at the blonde, “but I have spoken to your mother and she thinks it’s a great idea to merge the Kryptonian and Earth customs for our wedding so we are having a first dance.”

“Oh,” Kara started panicking, she didn’t know any Earth dances. Wait, why was she even panicking, their wedding wasn’t going to happen. Mon-El, remember?

“Yep,” Alex smiled, “and I’m picking the song. It’s going to be an English song. Are you ok with that?”

“Oh sure sure,” replied Kara. Despite the fact that they would not get to that point, it was fair for Alex to get a song of her choosing. After all, the brunette has been following most of the Kryptonian traditions without complaints. 

Alex smiled, eyes glazing a bit as she pictured their first dance. Her daydreaming was interrupted as Alu-Taal started the class.

“Good afternoon, welcome to Earth dances class. In this class, you will learn a range of dances, from formal ones to street dancing. We are starting with the formal ones first, today is the basics of a simple waltz.” said Alu-Taal

And with that, the class started. 

♜

Kara laughed loudly, she couldn't remember a time she was this winded and actually enjoying it.

Alex grinned at the look of pure joy on the blonde's face and continued twirling her around. Making the blonde happy was like the best feeling in the world and her favourite thing to do. 

"This is crazy!" laughed Kara as she completed the twirl, this time successfully. 

"You are doing good!" replied Alex, pulling the Princess back into her arms.

"You humans have weird dances!" 

Alex snorted, "Kryptonian dances are weird to me. Plus, Waltz is not weird of an Earth dance. You should see the chicken dance!"

Kara's brows furrowed cutely like a confused puppy, "What's a chicken?"

Alex just chuckled in response, pulling the blonde back into a twirl and then grabbing her by the waist, lifting her into the air, laughing when the blonde squealed at the change of altitude. 

"That was mean! I wasn't prepared for that!" pouted Kara, hitting Alex lightly on the shoulder. She did like it though, it felt like flying. She watched as Alex's hazel eyes glinted in mischief before she was hoisted up again and she squealed at the feeling again.

The pair didn't notice their instructor and even a few of the other couples looking at them in amusement. Alu-Taal was happy they were enjoying her class but was even happier to see how well they fitted together, they were a beautiful couple.

Kara laughed as she was placed back on the ground, cheeks flushed with joy. She allowed herself to be led all over the dance floor, without worrying about propriety. No one recognised her and it was freeing to just dance with Alex and be silly.

Alex was more than willing to provide, leading the blonde expertly around. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the blonde was a great dancer, picking up on the steps quite fast. It made dancing with her a joy. While Alex loved dancing, she never got the chance to do it much and had never enjoyed dancing with someone as much as she did with Kara. Kara fit into her arms like the last piece of a puzzle. She chuckled inwardly at her cheesiness. She was such a lovesick fool for the princess but she allowed herself to be so. After all, who wouldn't be for the sunny Kryptonian Princess?

"That's it for today, everyone. I hope you had fun! I'll see you all again next week!" They heard Alu-Taal call out, dismissing the class.

"Wow, that was fast," said Kara, surprised at how quickly the time had gone. I guess it is true, time goes fast when you are having fun.

"What do you say we go get a shake and some food? I bet you are hungry after all this," said Alex teasingly, knowing the blonde would be hungry even if they didn't do anything.

Kara's stomach answered for her, growling in approval at the plan and Alex laughed. She could see the blonde blush slightly and pout but the lighting up of the blue eyes at the mention of food was all she needed as she pulled the blonde with her, walking out of the class. She knew just the place.

Five minutes of brisk walking found them in a little secluded cafe. Kara took a seat and wasted no time in perusing the menu.

Alex slipped in the seat across the blonde and just watched her. 

Already decided what she wanted, Kara put her menu away and looked up, surprised to see Alex looking at her with an adoring smile on her face.

"What?" she asked, "Do I have something on my face?" she asked, feeling self-conscious and bringing her hands to her face.

Alex shook her head, reaching across the table to grasp the blonde's hands and pulling them away from her face, "No, you have nothing on your face."

"Why are you looking at me like that then?" asked Kara confused.

Alex shrugged, blushing slightly before replying "You are beautiful. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen." She picked up her menu and busied herself looking at the options.

Kara flushed bright red, fidgeting in her seat. The compliment sounded so sincere, it made her heart flutter in her chest but there was a bitter aftertaste to it as she remembered how she was deceiving the brunette. Fortunately, a waiter interrupted the moment and the two of them ordered.

"How did you find the class?" asked Alex, feeling like the blonde needed a change of topic. It hurt a bit though for the blonde to have not acknowledged her words.

Sighing in relief, Kara replied enthusiastically, "It was good! I enjoyed it. I cannot wait for next week!" 

Alex smiled, "I'm glad. You are a natural."

Kara flushed again, "Thanks, you are too."

The waiter brought their food and Kara wasted no time, digging into it with gusto. She was famished after all the exercise she had done.

Alex joined her though at a much slower pace. "I was invited by your father to check out the Ducati next week," she said hesitantly, munching on a piece of bread.

Kara shrugged, "they are trying to get to know you." She knew it was just her parents making out time to get to know her bondmate. She didn't feel jealous despite them not having much time for her. When it was important, they were always there for her and her marriage was important to them.

"I just wanted to check with you. If you want me to cancel and tell him to spend that time with you, I'll gladly do it," Alex said sincerely.

Kara was touched by the gesture and took Alex's hand in hers, "there is no need for that. They have been more available since the Coronation so there is no problem with you spending time with my parents." She gave the brunette's hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go.

Alex nodded, relieved to not be causing any grief to her fiance. Maybe she could use this opportunity to speak to Kara's parents about Kara missing them so much.. 


End file.
